A Home For My Heart
by pinktink008
Summary: The continuing adventures of Steve and Aly. Steve has to come to terms with becoming both a husband and a father while Aly finishes school and tries to deal with planning a wedding and preparing for a baby. AU, fluffy, Steve/OC pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** I still don't own _Marvel's The Avengers_ or _Captain America: The First Avenger_. They still belong to Marvel and Disney and people other than myself. I'm borrowing the characters for this story and am using them with love and care (and without getting paid, mind you). This story is still AU so don't expect it to follow any kind of Marvel cannon. This is a sequel to _Something's Gotta Give_ and it picks up about two months after that story lets off. I hope that you all enjoy it as much as the first story because I was thrilled with the reaction that the story got. Read and review if you'd like although I love seeing people follow and favorite the stories as well. Enjoy!

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Steve leaned against the nearest bookshelf with a soft sigh as Aly looked through books about pregnancy. She had already picked out several wedding planning books today and Steve was carrying all of them for her at the moment. He didn't understand why she needed all of these books though. He didn't see how hard it would be for the two of them to plan a wedding. Steve didn't see how hard it would be to prepare for a baby either but Aly was insisting on getting books on these subjects for some reason. She already went to the store to set up a baby registry, something else that Steve didn't understand. She was talking about going to a couple of other stores to start wedding registries as well.

"Is all this really necessary?" Steve asked, trying very hard not to sigh again. He had asked the same question when they started looking at the wedding planning books. He had asked it again when Aly grabbed a couple of wedding magazines as well. Both of those times, he hadn't been able to keep from sighing which had earned him a frown from Aly when she looked over at him. This all seemed like it was over planning but Steve wasn't going to question it. He'd get her any books or magazines that she might want because it would make her happy. "I mean, it seems a little obsessive."

Aly glared at Steve for a moment as she put a book back onto the shelf after briefly thumbing through it. She turned her back to him and pulled another book off of the shelf to take a look at it. "Don't start, Steve," she said as she thumbed through this book next. Then Aly pulled a baby name book off of the shelf and looked through that for a moment as well before tucking both books under her arm. "Let's get these things and then we can go wherever you want. Okay?"

Steve wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled Aly close, kissing the top of her head. "I want to go home but maybe we should stop and get some lunch. We have to make sure that you eat after all. Is there anything you want?" he asked, knowing that he tended to defer to Aly when it came to food these days. Steve had noticed that she didn't like the same things that she'd eaten when they first met and he didn't want to suggest that they eat somewhere that Aly wouldn't want to go. It was easier to ask her what she wanted in case she was craving something in particular.

Aly shrugged a little as they got into line. She wasn't that far along yet, just over two months, but since she'd been to the doctor a few times and had started taking prenatal vitamins, she noticed that the nausea had passed. Of course she drank a lot of ginger tea and ginger ale lately. She even snacked on crystallized ginger now and then which helped with the nausea as well. Aly did, however, notice that certain foods didn't smell as good these days and she had started developing cravings now and then but nothing that ever seemed that odd. "Why can't we go to Coney Island? I want a corndog and a candy apple and some saltwater taffy," she said with a soft laugh.

"Do you really want to walk around just to get that stuff? I mean, we can stop at the store and buy those things," Steve said with a shrug of his shoulders. If she wanted to go to Coney Island, that was where they would go but he didn't want her on her feet all day either. Maybe he worried too much about Aly but Steve couldn't help it. "Maybe we should go home and relax. You deserve to kick up your feet and watch a movie."

Aly rolled her eyes as they walked up to the counter, putting down the books that she had and looking at Steve, nodding to the counter. She watched as he put the books down and saw the way the cashier looked them over briefly as the cashier saw the books and magazines that the couple was buying. Aly rolled her eyes again and sighed loudly. It was enough to make the cashier blush as she finished taking care of them. Aly reached for the bag but Steve grabbed it first. For that, he got a punch in the arm and a glare from Aly although he chuckled softly at her for that.

They were half way to the door when Aly finally spoke again. "You need to stop that, Steve. I'm not broken or something. I'm not going to fall apart just because I walk around for awhile or just because I carry a few bags," she said, shaking her head. "I don't need to constantly sit on the couch. You do realize that I'm on my feet most of the day at work, right? Walking around Coney Island on a Saturday afternoon is nothing. Can we please go?"

Steve frowned a little although he couldn't deny her anything, especially when she seemed so insistent about it. He didn't want her on her feet that much but if Aly thought that it would be alright, he'd let her make that call. "Okay. Okay," he said, putting his hands up as if he were surrendering to her. In a way Steve was surrendering though, letting Aly get her way. "We'll go to Coney Island to grab lunch and maybe even play a few games in the midway but you're not riding anything."

Aly laughed and rolled her eyes. She hadn't planned on riding any of the rides but the fact that Steve felt the need to point that out to her did bother her. "I wasn't planning on it," she said with a shrug. "On our way we need to stop by the gym though." From the look on Steve's face, she could tell that he didn't like this idea. With a sigh, she rolled her eyes. She pulled out her keys and unlocked her car. "I'm driving so I can just stop there whether you like it or not, Steve."

Steve, who had been walking toward the driver's side, turned to head to the passenger side instead. He got into the car, buckling up and then glancing over as Aly got into the car. He watched until he saw her buckle up as well. "Why do we need to stop by the gym?" he asked, looking out the windshield at the moment.

Aly shrugged as she put the key into the ignition and started the car. "Nate said that he had something that he wanted to give me," she said with a little shrug as she carefully pulled out of the parking space. It was a tight fit but she got out safely and started to drive toward the gym. "He wouldn't tell me what it was though."

"Does he know?" Steve asked, glancing over at Aly. He tried not to smile when she looked over at him briefly. "I'm only asking because suddenly Nate wants to give you something. So does he know that you're pregnant or that we're engaged?"

Aly bit her bottom lip for a moment, chewing on it softly. They hadn't told a lot of people about either thing but she hadn't been able to resist telling a few people. A couple of teachers at work knew and so did her parents and her cousin. She was aware that people that Steve worked with knew about this too although she wasn't sure how she felt about that. Aly had also called Nate to tell him. He was like a father to her so she felt like he had the right to know.

Steve chuckled as he watched Aly chewing on her lip. He knew that she was nervous about saying something. It was one of her nervous habits, something that he picked up on rather quickly. "It's okay if you told him," he said with a shrug. He knew that Aly liked to drive with both hands on the wheel so Steve didn't even tempt her by putting his hand near hers although he did want to hold her hand right now. "I figured that you would."

Aly looked over at Steve as they stopped at a red light. There was a light blush on her cheeks and she smiled softly. "You're not mad?" she asked, smiling a little brighter when Steve shook his head. She leaned toward him, giggling when he leaned toward her. Stealing a quick kiss, her attention shifted back to the task at hand, which was driving. "I did tell him. I told him that we're engaged and I told him that I'm pregnant. It's not like it's something that I can hide very well right now."

Steve glanced down toward her stomach. She wasn't showing too much yet but if someone looked carefully, they would be able to see the slight curve to her stomach now. As his eyes moved up her body, he felt himself blush but he knew that her breasts were a bit larger as well. It was something that he noticed so he knew that other people, those who saw her often enough, probably noticed those changes as well. Steve really didn't see how Aly thought that she couldn't hide that she was pregnant at this point though. She wasn't wearing maternity clothing yet although she made it clear that she was going to have to get some sooner rather than later.

"You're hardly even showing, Alyssa," he said with a chuckle, shaking his head a little bit. He knew that she worried about things about as much as he did although he also knew that Aly didn't voice her concerns as often as Steve did. "You look amazing and you're going to still look beautiful once you are showing."

Aly glanced at Steve out of the corner of her eye, laughing softly. She glanced down for just a moment at her stomach. Maybe he didn't see it but she felt like she was showing already. It wasn't like people hadn't commented or started to ask if she was pregnant after all. Maybe Steve didn't see it but clearly other people could tell. Even Aly felt like she could tell that she was starting to show a bit. Maybe it was just because of all of the changes that her body was going through but she certainly felt very pregnant already.

"You're biased. Besides you're not the one who's going to be carrying this child inside you," she said, shaking her head as she turned onto the block where Nate's gym was located. It was that far now and she could feel her nerves growing. Aly really had no idea what in the world Nate wanted and she was both curious and nervous right now.

Steve chuckled and was shaking his head as Aly parked the car. He glanced over at her before reaching for her hand after she turned off the ignition and pulled the keys out. He lifted her hand to his lips and softly kissed it and then leaned in to softly kiss her as well. "Just you wait and see," Steve said with a confident nod of his head. "Pretty soon everyone will be telling you how beautiful you look. They say that pregnant women get this glow about them. I can't wait to see that look on you. It's going to be incredible."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I'd like to warn all of you amazing readers that updates could be slower than you might like but this story is a little slower going than I thought it would be. Still I'll update as often as I can so keep an eye out! I'd like to than you guys for the 5 reviews, 12 favorites, 14 follows and 185 views. You guys are great. I can't wait to see where this goes this time because you all overwhelmed me with your response last time. So thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy this story as much as you seemed to enjoy the last one! I'm enjoying writing it already and can't wait to see where it goes.

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Aly headed right for Nate's office with Steve close by, not paying attention to anything going on around her. She was too curious about what Nate wanted to worry about anything else but finding Nate and the feeling of Steve close. He had his arm around her waist and a hand lightly resting on her stomach. It had become something of a habit since Steve found out that Aly was pregnant for him to put his hand on her stomach whenever he could. When Nate saw them, he couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head a little at the two of them. She sat down across from Nate with a soft smile on her face. Nate watched as Steve sat beside Aly and took her hand in his. Then Nate looked down and pulled a bag from behind his desk with a little grin.

"What is this?" Aly asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the large yellow gift bag on the desk. She had no idea what Nate wanted to give her but she was excited to get a peek into that gift bag on his desk. The fact that Nate had thought to get her and Steve anything at all was very sweet of him but she knew that Nate was a good guy so Aly wasn't that surprised. "You didn't have to get us anything, Nate."

"Just open it," Nate said, actually looking and sounding embarrassed for once. He pushed the bag toward Aly when he said it with a nervous smile on his face. He rubbed the back of his neck a little as he watched Aly open the bag and look inside. He hoped that he had done a good job of picking things out after all. "I figured since the two of you are just starting out together, I'd get you a few things that you're gonna need for the baby. It's not a big deal so don't make a fuss."

Aly laughed as she dug around in the gift bag, showing Steve the baby bottles and two large containers of baby formula as well as the pacifiers, bibs and a couple of packages of white onesies that had been in the bag. She saw Steve grin when he saw everything and Aly couldn't help but smile right now as well. "It's very sweet of you, Nate," she said, looking over at him as she handed the bag to Steve. Getting up, she walked over and hugged Nate from the side, kissing his cheek softly. "Thank you."

Steve stood up then and held out his hand to the man behind the desk with a soft smile. Shaking Nate's hand, he gave the man a nod but the two never said a word to each other. He knew that Nate understood what Steve was trying to say right now though. It was a sort of silent thank you between the two of them. He wrapped an arm around Aly, the bag in his other hand. When it seemed like she was ready to go, Steve started to lead them out of the office. A few of the guys came around as they walked out and offered up congratulations to them. Aly laughed a little at how embarrassed Steve got from the attention but she would smile and nod and say thank you to everyone.

"Everyone knows now," Steve said with a shake of his head. There was disbelief in his voice as he looked down at Aly. There was something about that fact and about the fact that people seemed so okay with it that surprised him to no end. When she smiled at him, he shook his head again. "What's that smile for?"

Aly shrugged, laughing softly as they headed for her car. She opened the trunk and put the gift bag into the trunk before handing Steve the keys to the car. "Don't you like that people know?" she asked, her head tilted to the side a bit.

Steve shrugged as he took the keys, unlocking the doors and opening the passenger door for Aly. "You know in my time, this wouldn't be such a good thing," he said with an amused smile on his face. That part was certainly taking some getting used to because Steve expected people to shun them for it. He'd "knocked her up" after all and the fact that people were happy for them showed him just how much times had changed. After closing the door for Aly, he walked around to get into the car as well, buckling up and looking over to make sure that Aly was buckled up as well. "It's taking a little getting used to, hearing people wishing us well about all of this."

Aly laughed, rolling her eyes. She leaned toward Steve, smiling when he leaned toward her as well. She kissed him softly and then let her head rest against the headrest with a soft sigh. "People really don't care about anyone having a child out of wedlock anymore, Steve. There are still some people who think it's a bad thing but most people won't judge us for it. As long as we're happy, they'll be happy for us," she said with a shrug. She held up her hand, looking at the engagement ring on her finger with a soft smile. Aly even showed it to Steve when she spoke again. "Besides, I have this on my finger. Don't I? Maybe the baby will be born before we get married but you still asked me to marry you before knowing that I was even pregnant."

"But you knew," Steve said as he pulled out of the parking space and into traffic. He glanced over at her, taking her hand in his own and kissing the top of Aly's hand with a little grin. Even if he didn't know that she was pregnant, Steve still imagined that some people assumed that he proposed because Aly was pregnant. He played with her fingers before lacing his fingers with hers. "Still it's different than the reaction that I expected us to get."

Aly shrugged, giggling at Steve. He was adorable but sometimes he could be very old-fashioned. She was still surprised that he had even had sex with her before they'd gotten married. "You'll get used to it. Before you know it either the baby will be here or we'll be married," she said with another shrug. She watched the road for a moment to make sure that Steve really was driving them to Coney Island. Then she leaned a little toward Steve, wishing she could lean on him right now. She felt this need to be tucked in under his arm right now although she couldn't explain it. "Times have changed. No one bats an eye about things that would've been scandalous before. Just another one of those things for you to get used it, huh, soldier?"

Steve chuckled and nodded. He glanced over at Aly when they were stopped for a moment. He leaned in and kissed the top of her head before his attention was back on the road in front of them. "I think I can handle it," he said with a soft shrug of his shoulders. It was a little unusual and it had been Steve's first instinct to take Aly to the court house so they could get married before she started to show but she insisted that it would be alright for them to wait. While he wasn't so sure about that, he wasn't going to go against Aly's wishes. She seemed intent on waiting until after the baby was born to get married. It went against the things that Steve had grown up thinking about family and marriage but if Aly was okay with it, he could find a way to be okay with it too.

He glanced over at her and saw her staring at him. Steve felt that heat creeping up his neck when he saw that and he shook his head. "Why are you staring at me?" he asked, glancing over again with an eyebrow raised.

"You're nice to look at," Aly said with a laugh. When she saw Steve look at her with a pout, she shook her head a little and sat up again. "I'm still trying to figure out why you love me so much. I'm a handful. I'm a troublemaker. I'm not anything that I think most people would assume that you'd look for in a girl but you still love me and I don't think I'll ever understand that."

Steve shrugged a little, a soft smile on his face. "To be honest, I don't think I'll ever understand why you love me so we're even," he said with a soft chuckle. "Aly, you might be a whirlwind and you might cause trouble sometimes but you're so much more than that. I like that you're a firecracker. You're whip smart too. You're clearly beautiful. You have a great sense of humor. You're patient with me and with others. You're kind and sweet and gentle but you can be tough when you need to be. You don't need me to take care of you but you let me try to take care of you anyway because you know it makes me feel better. Most importantly, you still don't think that I'm completely crazy and you're willing to deal with this life that I live. In short, you amaze me every day. Does that explain it well enough?"

Aly laughed, shaking her head a little. She knew that she was blushing quite a bit but Steve seemed to be able to make her blush now and then. "I think so, yeah," she said with a nod. She played a little with Steve's fingers as he drove, a smile stuck to her face. She didn't think that he'd ever understand how happy he could make her. Aly wished that she could put every reason that she was in love with Steve into words but she didn't think that she could ever explain it to him. She didn't think that Steve had fully explained why he loved her too but it was good enough to make her blush so that was saying something.

"You do realize that you're the best thing to ever happen to me too, right?" Aly asked, biting her bottom lip for a moment as she looked at him. When Steve glanced over and nodded with a smile before lifting her hand to his lips to kiss the top of her hand, she let out a soft sigh. "I know that none of this is totally happening the way that you wanted it to but I think that it's happening pretty perfectly."

"It's just … going to take a little getting used to," Steve said with a little shrug. He was watching the road and made the last turn toward Coney Island. Glancing over at Aly, he gave her a soft smile. It was a bit odd that people didn't seem to think twice about the fact that Aly was pregnant but she and Steve weren't married yet. He was expecting people to be upset about it but people were congratulating them instead.

Aly looked out the window, smiling as she saw how close they were to Coney Island now. She understood why this was a little weird for Steve. Considering the time that he grew up in and the way that people behaved, she had no doubts that Steve didn't understand why people now didn't care so much about Aly being pregnant. While she didn't see any issues, she understood what Steve was going through right now. As happy he was about her being pregnant, Aly knew that Steve wished that she would agree to get married before she had the baby. She just didn't have the energy to plan a wedding in such a short time while getting ready for the coming baby. When she felt Steve kiss the top of her hand, she looked over at him and smiled softly. She swallowed hard as she felt a wave of nausea hit her. Taking a deep breath, she tried to keep her breakfast down. As soon as the car was parked, however, Aly ran for the nearest garbage can. When she felt Steve pulling back her hair, she let out a bit of a sigh. She thought that she was over the nausea but clearly that wasn't the case.

"I can stop at the store," Steve said, nodding toward a corner store not too far from where they were standing right now. "I'll get you a ginger ale. Or do you want some water."

Aly dug into her pocket for a tissue and wiped her mouth before turning around. "I know I said I wanted to come here but can we just go home? Maybe you were right. We can stop at the store and get corndogs and saltwater taffy," she said with a little shrug. As much as she wanted to check out Coney Island, she wasn't feeling very well. Aly thought that maybe Steve had been right. Maybe they should just go home and curl up on the couch together and watch a movie.

Steve leaned in and kissed the top of her head. "I'll get the ginger ale. You just wait here," he said with a little nod. He had a feeling that once she was feeling a little better she would be willing to walk around for a bit. "I'll be right back."

Aly sighed, not feeling at all like arguing with Steve right now. She moved over to a bench to sit down and wait for Steve. Leaning her head back with her hands on her stomach, she took a couple of deep breaths and tried to just relax. Maybe once she had a little ginger ale, she'd feel up to walking around with Steve. At least Aly hoped so because she really didn't want to have to drive all the way back home now after making such a fuss about going to Coney Island in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I know it's been quite awhile since I updated the story and I'm sorry about that. Work has gotten the better of me and I haven't had the time to write as much as I would have liked. I'm going to try as hard as I can to get another chapter written and up as soon as possible but it could be some time before you get another update. That being said, I'd like to acknowledge the fact that people have been favorting the first story in this series and that still amazes me. I'm glad that people have taken the time to read the first story before reading this one. For those who have been reading this story, well, I thank you as well. The 8 reviews, 27 followers, 18 favorites and 655 views amaze me and I thank you all for that. You're amazing and I hope to get this story really rolling soon because of all of you!

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After finishing a small bottle of ginger ale that Steve had gotten for her at the convenience store, Aly had felt a lot better and she decided that it wouldn't be so bad to walk around for awhile. It had been her idea to go to Coney Island so she felt like they could at least walk around for a little while. She had to admit that Steve did a wonderful job of taking care of her though. He watched over her and he always made sure that she always had whatever she needed or wanted. Whenever she wasn't feeling well, Steve would make sure she had ginger ale or whatever she needed to make her feel better. When she wanted a certain something to eat, Steve would go to the store, no matter the hour, to get her whatever she wanted. Aly was grateful for that. She was always telling him not to go to such a fuss but it seemed that Steve liked getting to take care of her. She was grateful for that now and she wanted to enjoy some time with Steve at Coney Island.

Once she was feeling up to it, they walked around, playing a few games and grabbing corndogs and some cotton candy as they walked. This was the reason that she had wanted to come to Coney Island with him. It was nice to spend this time with Steve here. This was sort of a special place for them after all and Aly liked coming back when they could. They'd once spent an entire day here and she thought it was nice to come back now and then to even grab some food and play a few games like they were doing right now.

She laughed, shaking her head when Steve won a rather large brown teddy bear playing a sharp shooter game. She had thought it was unfair of him to be playing any of the games since she had the feeling he could win at all of them but Aly did notice that Steve made a point to not do that. He made a point to make sure that he didn't win every time. The reason Steve had won this bear was because he saw the way Aly had smiled when she saw it. She made an off-handed comment about how it would be fitting for their baby's nursery. He knew then that he had to win it for her.

When he tried to give the bear to her, Aly pushed it back at Steve and shook her head again, laughing. He won it after all so Aly was going to make Steve carry the bear around while they wandered for a bit longer. She stopped to get some saltwater taffy to take home with them and shared a candy apple with Steve before they stopped to play another game. This time it was one of those ring toss games. Again, she noticed how easy it was for Steve to win at the game and it made her laugh to see the look on the carny's face when he did win the big prize without any trouble at all.

Steve let Aly pick out the prize again and she picked out a large stuffed fish that was hanging near where she was standing. After he won that, Aly decided it was time for them to go home. She wasn't sure that they'd be able to carry many more stuffed animals after all and she got the feeling that Steve would try to win at least a couple more stuffed toys if she let him. While Aly thought these things would be perfect for their baby's nursery, she really didn't want to struggle to carry around anymore stuffed animals. She carried the yellow fish while Steve carried the bear back to the car. Placing both in the backseat, they both got into the car. Aly leaned in before Steve could buckle up or start the car though.

Steve was a bit surprised when he felt Aly's hand on his cheek. He let her turn his face toward hers and gently pressed his lips against hers when she kissed him. His hand moved to her face and slowly slid back into her hair as her lips lingered on hers. Steve wasn't really thinking as his other hand moved to her hip and he pulled her closer which got a soft moan out of her. While that sound surprised him, Steve really wasn't ready to pull back just because of that. In fact, he let her decide when to pull her lips away from his. After a moment, Aly slowly pulled back from the kiss, giggling when she felt him nibble her bottom lip softly before she could pull back completely. She smiled a little as she started to sit back, reaching to pull on her seatbelt when Steve started the car.

"Can I ask what that was for?" Steve asked as he started to head for the street so they could head home. He glanced over at Aly for a moment with a soft grin on his face. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

Aly laughed and shrugged, her head turned toward Steve with a smile. "Do I have to have a reason to kiss you now?" she asked with a laugh. "I just enjoyed today and I wanted you to know it. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Steve laughed and shook his head. The last thing that he wanted was for Aly not to surprise him like that. She was very good at surprising him when he least expected it actually and he wanted that to continue. That included her stealing kisses whenever she felt like it. "No, like I said, I wasn't complaining. I enjoyed today too, just so you know," he said with a soft shrug of his shoulders.

Aly laughed softly and watched out the windshield as Steve drove them home. When she felt him put his hand on her stomach, she smiled a little brighter and glanced over at Steve. His eyes were on the road but one hand was on the steering wheel and the other was softly brushing her stomach. She rested her hand over his and let out a soft and happy sigh. Aly closed her eyes for a long moment as she enjoyed the feeling of his hand on her stomach. She knew that she was never happier than she was when she was with Steve. She just hoped that he felt the same way. While she knew that Steve was happy about the baby, Aly also knew that he wasn't happy with her desire to wait to get married. He was just too much of a gentleman to say it to her. It wasn't that Aly didn't want to marry Steve. It was just that she saw no reason to rush to the altar with him. She hoped that he would understand.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I apologize for how long it's been since I've updated. Life has been hectic and I've been stressed so I haven't had the chance to write as much as I would have liked. I'm trying though and I hope for more steady updates soon. It's my hope anyway. Still thank you for the 11 reviews, 34 follows, 21 favorites and 1113 views on this story so far. You're amazing and it's because of all of you that I'm still working on this despite anything going on in my life. Thank you all!

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After flipping through several movie channels, Steve finally put on the movie _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_ since it was one that he hadn't seen yet but it was one that Aly suggested that they watch together. They still tried to watch movies together after all. She tried to expose Steve to all sorts of pop culture but movies seemed to be the one thing that they focused on the most. She seemed rather excited when he picked _Close Encounters of the Third Kind _to watch instead of _Cujo_, which was one movie that she didn't seem eager to watch at all. Steve assumed that meant that it was a horror movie since he was aware that Aly didn't like horror movies.

They were only about halfway through the movie when Aly fell asleep. She'd had her head rested on his chest and both her arms wrapped around his waist with Steve's arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders. He looked down at her and chuckled when he saw that she was sound asleep. Steve didn't want to move to wake her but he had to go to the bathroom so he carefully shifted so he could lay Aly down on the couch, kissing her on the forehead before he walked away.

The movie was good but without Aly awake and giving him her normal running commentary, it didn't interest Steve that much. Instead of heading back to the living room after using the bathroom, he wandered into the kitchen, getting ready to fix himself a snack. He tried to at least listen to the movie as it continued to play in the living room. He had just pulled out the makings for a turkey sandwich when he heard what he thought was his phone ringing although he didn't recognize the ringtone that was playing. Steve wrinkled his nose at it, recognizing it as some band named AC/DC. Aly had played him some of their music and it wasn't his cup of tea. He didn't understand why his phone was set with a ringtone like this one because he knew that he hadn't done it.

He grabbed his phone and shook his head when he saw the name on the caller ID, wondering a little why his phone was even ringing now that he saw who was calling. Steve wondered if Aly had set the phone to this ringtone on purpose though. Now that he knew who the ringtone was for, it made perfect sense to Steve. It was something that he was sure Tony Stark would listen to and it was one of those songs that Steve couldn't seem to get into although Aly seemed to like the music well enough. It just wasn't to his liking so it was fitting that it was set as Tony's ringtone on his cell phone. The song seemed to fit the other man to a T in Steve's opinion.

He hit the button to answer the phone, trying not to chuckle although he already knew he'd be asking Aly about this ringtone business whenever she woke up. "Tony," Steve said without a further greeting. He tried not to sound curt when he said it. "What can I do for you?"

Tony let out a chuckle on the other end of the line. "I'm surprised it wasn't the incomparable Miss Alyssa who answered the phone. So you've figured out how to work your cell phone at least," he said, sounding amused. "How is Aly anyway?"

Steve walked over to the doorway that separated the living room from the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe as he looked into the living room. He couldn't help the slow grin that spread across his face when he saw Aly laying there on the couch. It was enough to make him forget, for a moment anyway, that he had Tony on the phone. Aly was curled up now in a little ball so he walked over and pulled the throw blanket that she had over the back of the couch onto her so she wouldn't get cold. Then Steve sat down on the loveseat.

"She's doing well. I take it you didn't call to make small talk," Steve said, raising his eyebrow a little. He was curious about what Tony could want after all. It wasn't like Tony called Steve on a regular basis so the fact that he was calling made Steve wonder if Tony Stark wasn't calling in the favor that he said Steve would owe him. He shuddered to think what Tony could want from him. "By the way, Aly wanted to thank you for that dress you sent her and for all the trouble you went to for the two of us."

"I take it that it was a perfect little fairytale moment for the two of you then? Everything you imagined that it would be? That's great. Don't worry I'll call in that favor soon enough," Tony said with a soft chuckle, sounding a bit like he had something up his sleeve. "I'm sure the two of you made good use of that apartment too."

Steve felt himself blushing and he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand as he glanced at Aly for a moment. As he looked over at her, he remembered what they did that night all too well and he wasn't about to tell Tony all about it. Swallowing hard, it took Steve a moment to answer Tony. "Well … uh …"

"You don't have to say anything, Spangles. I don't really want the details anyway."

Steve rolled his eyes although he let out a little sigh of relief at hearing that. He wasn't one to kiss and tell and he didn't think that Aly would appreciate him telling anyone, especially Tony, about their sex life. "Don't call me that," he said. This time his tone was a little curt, however, and Steve didn't try to hide it. That nickname was one of many that he could do without hearing coming out of Tony Stark after all. "Can you get to the point of this phone call?"

"You're not being very friendly right now, Mr. All-American. I don't think that this is going to work out the way that I'd hoped," Tony replied. There was a voice in the background and he let out a sigh before saying anything else to Steve. There were a few muffled words exchanged before Tony said anything else to Steve. "Okay, fine. Pepper thinks that the four of us should get together some time. Grab some lunch or something."

Steve thought about the proposition for a moment. It wasn't what he was expecting when Tony called although if it was Pepper's idea, then it made sense. He knew that Aly would want him to say yes but he wasn't so sure he wanted to have lunch with Tony. Steve could already imagine how something like that would go and he wasn't sure he liked the outcome. Still he didn't want to disappoint Aly and he knew that she'd find out about this one way or the other. In fact Steve was sure that Tony would contact Aly and ask her instead even if Steve said no. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, he finally replied. "I'll have to talk to Aly about when would be good for her but yeah, I guess we can do that."

"Great. Listen, I'll contact Aly and get all the details from her," Tony said, sounding relieved. He chuckled softly. "I bet it'll be fun."

Steve grumbled under his breath and rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you think that," he said, shaking his head a little bit. He couldn't help but to react like that towards Tony. The man seemed to know how to push Steve's buttons after all. It seemed to him like Tony did it on purpose too. He let Tony hang up after a quick exchange of goodbyes. Steve rolled his eyes as he looked at his phone, setting it down and letting his attention shift back to the movie. He realized when he looked up that it was closer to being finished and he'd missed enough of the movie that he felt lost so he started to flip through the channels again to find something else to watch.

"Who was on the phone?" Aly asked as she stretched and sat up. Her tone was sleepy and she raked her fingers through her hair a bit as if to try to straighten it out a bit.

Steve looked over and gave Aly a little grin, shaking his head. "It doesn't really matter. Did you change my ringtones on my phone?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Aly. He even wiggled his phone a little in the air at her with a chuckle.

She laughed and shrugged, getting up and moving over to the loveseat where Steve was sitting. She sat down on his lap and took his phone out of his hand, setting it down on the table next to them. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I may have. So it was Tony that called then?" Aly said, smiling when Steve laughed and nodded in reply. "What did he want? Is everything okay?"

Steve shrugged and started to kiss and nibble on the side of Aly's neck. Her giggle seemed to spur him on. He didn't want to talk about what Tony had wanted, although he knew that he would have to soon enough. Steve got the feeling that Tony was going to call Aly before too long and if she had no idea what he was calling about, Steve knew that she was going to be mad at him. When Aly shifted away from him a little, he sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist. She wasn't going to let him get away with not telling her what the conversation had been about so Steve figured he should get it over with.

"Tony should be calling you soon to see when we can meet him and Pepper for lunch or dinner," he said with a little shrug. "I figured that you'd want to go so I told him that we'd go."

"But you don't like the idea?"

Steve chuckled a little and shook his head. He brushed his fingers through her hair and tucked some behind her ear and then slowly let his fingers brush along Aly's jaw. He was distracted by her and he wanted to distract Aly as well. "I'll go because you want to go," Steve said with a little nod. "Even if I don't like the idea, I'll go because I know that you'll want to go."

"You're sweet. You know that?" When she saw Steve give her a confused look, Aly laughed and kissed his cheek softly. She thought that it was funny that he didn't understand what she was trying to tell him right now. She knew how Tony pushed Steve's buttons but still he was willing to go to lunch with Tony all because he knew Aly would want to say yes. She found that very sweet and very unnecessary. "You're willing to go to lunch with Tony Stark because you know that I would want to go. We don't have to though. I'll call him later and tell him that we can't make it."

Steve shook his head and pulled Aly close. His hands rubbed her sides a little. "It's fine. I think I can make it through a lunch with Tony. As long as you're there, it'll be fine," he said, although his voice was a little muffled. The words came out between the soft kisses that he was planting on the side of her neck. Steve even nibbled a little on her skin. "Don't you know that I'd do anything for you?"

Aly giggled a little, wiggling in Steve's arms. She knew that he'd do anything for her and right now she didn't seem to have it in her to argue with him. She didn't think that she'd be able to talk Steve out of this anyway. "Does he know yet?" she asked, laughing when Steve stopped trying to distract her to give her another of those confused looks. Aly put his hand on her stomach with a raised eyebrow. "Does he know yet?"

"Oh," Steve said when it dawned on him what she was talking about. He chuckled and shook his head. He hadn't told anyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. about the fact that Aly was pregnant although he knew he was going to have to tell them about it eventually. Everyone seemed to know that he and Aly were engaged though. "No. He doesn't know yet but you want to tell him. Don't you?"

Aly nodded, shifting so she was straddling his lap. She brushed her fingers against his cheek before leaning in to softly kiss him. When Steve lightly bit her bottom lip, she giggled, giving him a surprised look. "I think it'll be pretty obvious, Steve. Maybe I'm not showing that much but it's enough that people have noticed," she said with a little shrug. "If anyone would notice and have a comment, it would be him. If we tell him first though, at least it lessens the chance that he'll say something."

Steve nodded before he started to kiss and lightly nibble on Aly's neck. When she didn't stop him, he smiled a little and let his lips travel up her neck until he was kissing along her jaw. He kissed her passionately, wanting to think about only this for a moment. Pressing his lips hard against hers, Steve was going to kiss Aly until they were both too dizzy to think straight. Then if she wanted to talk about anything more, they could discuss this lunch or anything else she wanted. Until then Steve was going to kiss her until they were breathless.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** First of all, let me apologize for the lack of updates. This has been a harder chapter for me to write than I thought it would be. As such, I think it ended up longer than I thought it was going to get. I've been trying to figure out what is going to happen down the road and got too caught up in that, forgetting to write this scene instead. I'm so glad that people are still reading though and I'm amazed that people are discovering the first story right now as well. Now for the numbers. Thank you for your (so far) 1702 views, 16 reviews, 44 follows, and 28 favorites. You guys still astound me and I hope I'm doing a good job! Keep reading and I'll keep writing. Or I'll keep writing anyway.

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Aly got on the phone first thing Sunday morning to see what Tony wanted to do about this whole lunch thing. She figured that the sooner they did this, the better. She saw Steve rolling his eyes and heard him sighing heavily as she talked on the phone with Tony. She ignored Steve for the time being, focusing instead on getting Tony to agree to meet her and Steve at Skylight Diner that afternoon. There was still an amused smile on Aly's face at Steve's reaction to her talking to Tony. Tony didn't sound too happy about her suggestion, however, since he had seemed to want to go somewhere specific but she didn't want to go somewhere expensive only to have Tony say that he'd pay for their lunch. From the sounds of it, he wanted them to go somewhere that would cost around $90 a person just for lunch. While that sounded interesting enough, Aly got the feeling that Steve wouldn't want to owe Tony any more than he already did so she made her suggestion and didn't take no for an answer.

After hanging up the phone, she quickly got ready so they could head out. Aly tried putting on a pair of her jeans but when she struggled with buttoning them up, she quickly put on a spaghetti strapped dress and a cardigan. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun before putting on some lipgloss. Then Aly slipped on a comfortable pair of black ballet flats and grabbed her purse. She figured that she and Steve could look around a little at cribs for the baby before meeting up with Tony and Pepper. Aly rolled her eyes when Steve grabbed her keys although she had to laugh a little when he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist after he locked up their apartment.

They spent a little time looking around at cribs and changing tables for the baby, during which Aly tried to talk Steve into starting a gift registry at the store. Instead they walked out with two bags, both holding some gender neutral necessities that she convinced Steve that they could pick up. Steve put the bag into the trunk after opening the door for Aly. Then he headed around to the driver's side so he could drive them to the diner. When Aly rolled her eyes at him again for insisting on driving, he stole a quick kiss and chuckled to himself at the blush that seemed to creep up onto her cheeks. After what turned out to be a quick drive to the restaurant, Aly was standing with Steve with her arms around his waist as they waited for Pepper and Tony to arrive. She gave a little wave when she spotted Tony and Pepper walk inside. She could see from the look on Pepper's face that this wasn't the place that she thought they'd be going for lunch although Tony didn't seem to mind too much.

Tony gestured for the ladies to sit first so Aly and Pepper each sat down and slid into the booth that Aly had chosen for them. Now that they were sitting, Pepper looked more comfortable with her surroundings and Aly figured that Tony hadn't explained where he was taking her for lunch today so showing up here had been a bit of a surprise. From the look on Pepper's face now, it was a happy surprise. They probably didn't go to places like this very often so Aly figured this had to be a nice change of pace for the two of them because from the sounds of it, Tony didn't often take Pepper to places like this. Aly got the feeling that Tony tended to stick with pricier places when he was taking Pepper out because she got the feeling that he liked to spoil Pepper.

The diner itself was rather nice actually and it seemed quite busy at the moment. Both the brunch and the lunch crowd seemed to be there so service was probably going to be a little bit slower. As Aly looked around, she had a smile on her face. There was something about this place that felt familiar and nice. She liked the comfortable atmosphere here and she was glad that she'd picked the Skylight Diner. When Steve slid in next to her, Aly rested her head on his shoulder and laughed when she saw him blushing. When she picked up a menu, Tony stopped her and took her left hand into his, tugging on her arm a little so she had to lean across the table. She was a little surprised by it and she let out a soft sigh when Tony wouldn't let go of her hand right now. He had caught sight of her engagement ring and Tony wanted a closer look at it.

"So this is the ring that your soldier picked out for you?" he asked her, examining the 1.5 karat ring carefully for a moment. Tony looked up and flashed Aly a charming smile, chuckling when she rolled her eyes in response. His attention slowly shifted over to Steve as he let go of Aly's hand, reaching for a menu now as well. Tony was watching Steve, raising an eyebrow as he spoke. "Not what I was expecting but it's nice enough, I suppose. I assume the proposal went just the way that you were expecting, Cap?"

Steve gave a soft shrug of his shoulders as he felt that flush in his cheeks and the back of his neck. This was exactly what he was expecting to have happen but he was going to tough it out for Aly's sake. He knew now that a lot of Tony's behavior was Tony's way of showing that he liked and respected Steve after all. It was just taking some getting used to since it seemed that Tony knew how to push all of Steve's buttons so easily. The thing was that when Steve made it clear that Tony was pushing his buttons, it just made Tony push a little more so he was doing his best not to let the other man know right now how Tony's words were effecting him.

Steve rubbed the back of his neck a little though and then looked over at Aly as she settled in next to him again, not entirely sure how to respond to Tony's question. It wasn't like it couldn't have been taken a few different ways after all, especially when the question came from someone like Tony. Seeing that amused smile on her face seemed to make him blush even more. Steve picked up his menu and decided to hide behind it for as long as he could. At least he had the menu to use for cover for now. He was well aware that he wouldn't have any way to hide once they ordered their food.

"Well let's see. I'm wearing the ring, quite happily and proudly actually, so I'd say that the proposal went the way that Steve was hoping," Aly said with a shrug when she realized Steve wasn't going to say anything, not that she blamed Steve. She knew that Tony wanted to push Steve's buttons so she didn't mind that he was keeping a little quiet at the moment. "And just when are you going to finally ask Miss Potts here to be your wife, Tony?"

Tony made a little face and then squirmed when Pepper looked over at him with an eyebrow raised as if she wanted to know the answer to that question as much as anyone else right now. He shrugged a little and then gave Aly a dirty look for bringing something like that up in front of Pepper, although he was aware that was exactly why Aly had done it. There may have even been a bit of a blush on Tony's cheeks right now. Aly laughed and when she looked over, she saw Steve smiling from behind the menu he was holding right now. She gave him a nudge and smiled a little brighter when Steve let out a soft chuckle. Tony didn't get a chance to respond to the question, however, because their waitress was headed over to their table to check on them.

"I'm Angie and I'll be your server today. Can I start you all off with anything to drink?" she asked, giving both Tony and Steve a little once over before glancing at both Aly and Pepper. Of course her attention seemed to drift right back to Tony and Steve almost immediately though.

Pepper cleared her throat to get Angie's attention, raising an eyebrow when the brunette waitress looked at her. She was aware of the way that the young woman was looking at both Steve and Tony and Pepper made it very clear without saying a word that she wasn't going to stand for any flirting. "Just waters to start out for now. Thank you, Angie," she said before anyone else could say anything. She did, however, give their waitress a stern look.

Their waitress nodded, nervously brushing some light brown hair from her face. It was clear that she had been intimidated by Pepper. Angie quickly turned on her heels and left to get the waters that Pepper had asked for though without another word. Tony looked over at Pepper and gave her a little grin, seemingly proud of Pepper for what she had just done. Aly, however, laughed with an amused shake of her head. Mostly she laughed because Steve seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the waitress had been looking him over like a piece of meat. He seemed oblivious to those kinds of things quite often actually. It wasn't like this was the first time Aly had noticed a woman checking Steve out although Steve never seemed to realize it was happening. Steve went back to looking at the menu though before glancing over at Aly and softly shrugging his shoulders.

"So what do we owe the pleasure of having lunch with two of you?" Aly asked, her attention on Tony although she did look over at Pepper with a little smile. Really she wanted to know why Tony had asked her and Steve to lunch in the first place. It didn't make much sense to her after all. "I figure there had to be a reason for you asking Steve and I to have lunch with you. I'm just curious as to what that reason might be."

Tony chuckled and shook his head a little. "Can't two colleagues have lunch with their girlfriends? Or in this case I guess with their fiancée and girlfriend. Besides, I thought it was only right that I take the time to get to know you, Alyssa. You're with Steve now and that makes you a part of our little, twisted sort of family. This seemed like a good way to do to get to know you," he said with a nod, glancing at Pepper as if he was looking for her to agree with what he'd said.

"Family?" Steve asked, glancing over his menu at Tony. He shook his head when Tony gave him a glare and went back to checking out the menu, an amused smile on his lips.

"Actually I told him that he should make the effort to actually spend some time with Steve and the others," Pepper said with a little shrug. "By the way, I like the ring."

Aly smiled brightly and nodded. "Well thank you, Pepper," she said, glad to have someone say something nice about the engagement ring. "I think it's perfect. Regardless of what some people might want to think." She shot Tony a dirty look, which made Tony chuckle, and then looked at the ring for a moment with a smile on her face. Aly had to admit that Steve had picked out the perfect ring, at least in her opinion anyway. She wasn't that worried about what Tony thought about the ring. It couldn't have been more perfect in Aly's opinion and that was all that really mattered. She looked over at Steve and kissed his cheek softly.

Steve had looked up from the menu and let out a laugh at what Pepper said. He tried to suppress his laughter when he got a dirty look from Tony but he couldn't help the amused look on his face. The idea that Tony could be put into his place by Pepper was funny to Steve. He wouldn't have thought it possible but clearly Tony had found the right woman for himself, much like Steve hoped he had in Aly. He liked that other people maybe thought that they were good together as well. It certainly seemed to Steve like he had the right woman in Aly anyway because she kept him on his toes all of the time and more than that, she helped him navigate his way through this modern world.

By now Steve actually felt more comfortable in this time than he had ever thought that he would have otherwise. It helped having someone who would watch movies with him and who was willing to take the time to expose him to various types of music. Aly even discussed various historical topics with Steve after guiding him to the right books to read about all of the things that he had missed while he'd been in a coma. That was when the teacher in Aly came out and Steve always enjoyed it when she went into teacher mode while talking with him about something. More than any of that, he appreciated having someone like that at his side because he didn't know what he would do without Aly. She had become so important to him at this point and Steve hoped that he showed Aly that every day.

"Why don't we not talk about any of that and just order?" Tony suddenly asked with a bit of a chuckle. For the first time, he looked a bit like he might be nervous right now or at least a bit uncomfortable with the current topic of discussion. He was ready for a change in subject right now and that was saying something because usually Tony liked being the topic of discussion. "We're here for lunch after all. Aren't we? Isn't that the main thing?"

Aly rolled her eyes a little but leaned toward Steve as he looked at his menu again. She nudged him a little and gave him a soft pout as he started to turn the page and he chuckled when he realized she was trying to share the menu with him. Steve gave Aly a little nod and waited as she looked. Kissing the top of her head, he waited until she was ready to keep looking before he turned the page on the menu.

"You two are like … like Barbie and Ken or something. It's really kind of funny when you think about it," Tony commented in an off-handed manner. When Pepper glared at him, he shrugged although he couldn't seem to wipe the amused smile off of his face. "Oh come on. You can't tell me that you don't look at them and see Barbie and Ken, Pep. They're so … so sweet too. It's really kind of …" He suddenly stopped when he saw that look on Pepper's face. He knew that he was starting to go too far so he stopped before Pepper could get too mad at him. Tony put his hands up in surrender before grabbing a menu without finishing his thoughts. He knew that Pepper knew where he was going with it though and that was the reason that he got that look from her. He had the good sense to stop before anyone could get too upset with him. Tony needed to figure out what he was going to order anyway.

"I think what Tony is trying to say is that the two of you seem like a perfect match," Pepper said with a smile and a little nod. It was always her job to smooth things over it seemed so she just naturally jumped right in with that right now. While she knew what Tony was going to say, she also knew him well enough to know that those jabs came from a place of respect. He wouldn't tease Steve like this if he didn't respect and like the man. "You're good for him, Aly. I mean, not that I know much about what Steve has gone though. It just seems like you're good for him."

Aly looked at Steve and smiled brightly. She giggled when he leaned in to softly kiss her. She was nodding with what Pepper was saying though because that was Aly's hope. She wanted to be "good" for Steve. She wanted to know that she was making his life better and that she made Steve happy. Without those things, she really didn't know why she was with him. The fact that other people noticed it made her happy though. That was what she wanted, for people to actually notice that she was making a difference in Steve's life. Having Pepper say something like that was a huge compliment and it was something Aly hadn't been sure that she ever would have heard from Tony since he seemed more apt to make a joke about it than to actually say something like that to her. From the look on Tony's face, however, she could see that Pepper wasn't the only one who thought that Aly was good for Steve.

"I'd like to think that I'm good for Steve anyway. You know … there's something that we should tell you both," Aly said, glancing down for a moment at her stomach. She bit her bottom lip as she put her hand on her stomach and then looked over at Steve. She wanted to make sure that he was okay with this because if he wasn't ready to say anything, Aly knew that she could wait. "Did you want to tell them or should I?"

Steve opened his mouth and promptly closed it, not sure what he was going to say. Instead he chuckled and gave Aly a little nod as if to tell her that she could make the announcement. While he had known that she wanted to tell Tony and Pepper that they were having a baby, Steve had figured that it would wait until they were at least already eating or until after they had ordered their food. As Aly opened her mouth to say something, their waitress came to the table with their waters, setting them down with a glance to Pepper and Aly. Aly sighed a little and snuggled in under Steve's arm instead for a moment. Their announcement seemed like it was going to have to wait a bit longer.

"Were you ready to order?" Angie asked as she pulled a pen and her order pad out.

Tony gave a little nod, glancing at his menu for a moment. He quickly ordered the protein salad and fresh squeezed lemonade. Pepper ordered an iced tea and angel hair pasta primavera. Steve quickly ordered as well, getting a bacon cheeseburger and chocolate shake. For the sake of Aly, he added an order of chili cheese fries because he knew that she'd want them and Steve figured that they could all share it, if Tony and Pepper felt so inclined. He just wanted to make sure that Aly got everything that she wanted right now. He knew that she wouldn't order it for herself so he didn't see the harm in tacking that on to his order. It wasn't like he wouldn't eat them as well. Aly smiled at that though, softly kissing Steve's cheek. She took a little longer to decide what to order however. She had a tendency to take a little longer to order at restaurants these days because she had gotten a lot pickier about what she ate since she'd gotten pregnant. After looking over the menu again, she finally settled on a California chicken wrap and strawberry shake.

Tony gave Aly an expectant look as their waitress left to put in their orders. "You were saying, Barbie?" he said with a chuckle. He laughed a little harder when Aly rolled her eyes and threw a balled up napkin at him. He easily batted it away and shrugged. The fact that she'd do something so playful with him let Tony know that he and Aly got along just fine. "So what's this news that you were going to share with us before we were interrupted?"

Aly rolled her eyes again, letting out a soft sigh. She put her hand on her stomach for a moment, smiling when she felt Steve's hand go to her stomach as well. She moved her hand so it was resting on Steve's and leaned in to softly kiss the corner of his mouth. Then Aly's attention shifted back to Pepper and Tony. "Well … I'm going to have a baby," she said with a little nod of her head. She laughed a little when Pepper's expression shifted from shock to excitement. The look of amusement on Tony's face, however, was exactly what Aly had expected to see.

"So what you're saying is that not only did you and Steve have sex before getting married but you're also saying that the captain got you pregnant out of wedlock? Am I hearing that right?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. He had been trying to suppress the smile on his face but he couldn't help it anymore. He had a grin on his face that matched the amused look in his eyes. "You mean he didn't run you to the Justice of the Peace to marry you the moment he found out that you were carrying his child? Wow. You've really corrupted him. I approve."

Aly rolled her eyes at Tony and looked over at Steve, who also rolled his eyes. She felt Steve softly rub her stomach which made her smile. She laced her fingers with his and held onto Steve's hand, giving it a soft squeeze. When Steve leaned in and kissed her softly, Aly really wasn't thinking about anything other than Steve. She even let out a soft 'mmm' as she felt his lips on hers. It wasn't until Tony cleared his throat that Aly even realized that they'd been kissing for perhaps a little too long. She stole a soft, quick kiss before Steve could pull back completely, giggling softly. She lightly brushed her fingers on his cheek before her attention slowly shifted back to Tony and Pepper. To see the two of them happy for her and Steve made Aly smile brightly.

"I didn't corrupt him, Tony. I just convinced Steve that we could wait to get married," Aly said with a little shrug. She knew that if it was up to Steve, they would've gone to the Justice of the Peace then next morning after she told him that she was pregnant but she was able to talk Steve into waiting for a wedding until after the baby was born. "He knows how much I want a real wedding and planning something like that while preparing for a baby is hard enough. I really don't want to be eight months pregnant while I walk down the aisle either."

"That would be a sight to see," Tony said with a chuckle. "I can't even imagine what that would look like. You waddling …"

"Stark. Stop right there," Steve said, glaring at the other man. He shook his head a little before reaching for his glass of water. "I don't want to hear whatever crude comment you have about Aly being pregnant."

"I was simply commenting on the idea of seeing her wad – walking down the aisle eight or nine months pregnant," Tony said with a chuckle. He held up his hands in surrender with a grin on his face. "How far along are you now anyway?"

Aly knew that Tony meant well. Even she thought it would be funny to see her eight months pregnant as she walked down the aisle. "Not very far although I think that we'll be able to find out if we're having a boy or a girl soon," she said with a little shrug. The doctor had mentioned it once before after all and she knew that they would be able to find out the sex of the baby soon. That was something that she and Steve hadn't talked about yet. Aly wondered if Steve wanted to know before they had the baby or if he wanted to be surprised. "We started looking at cribs and changing tables today and even picked up a few basics. I'm going to start in on the wedding planning soon too. I'm just not in a rush to plan the wedding. Planning for the baby seems like the more immediate issue."

"And are the two of you going to need anything?" Tony asked, looking right at Aly as he spoke. He may have technically been talking to the both of them but he knew that it was Aly that he should be asking about that. "I mean I'm pretty sure that I can pick up a few things for the two of you if you need anything in particular."

Aly laughed and shook her head a bit. "I think that we'll manage although if you'd like to get us some of the basics, I wouldn't say no to that," she said with a shrug. She liked that Tony wanted to help and she got the feeling that he wouldn't take no for an answer so Aly figured that he could tell him to get them something simple. That way Tony didn't go overboard. The thing was that she knew that he was going to go overboard anyway. She thought that warning him not to spend too much was going to end up seeming like she was challenging Tony to spend a lot of money although that wasn't the case at all. "Whatever you get us, please don't spend too much. Okay?"

Tony gave Aly and Steve a cheeky little grin and chuckled with a shrug. Now that he knew that Steve and Aly were going to be having a baby, it was in his head to make sure that they had the best of everything that they might need for the baby. "Uncle Tony" was going to spoil this kid, whether Aly and Steve liked it or not. "I'll do my best to restrain myself," he said with a chuckle. He raised his eyebrows at the look that he got from Pepper and laughed again. Tony realized that everyone knew he was going to spoil the baby after all. He was already making plans for it after all. "I can't make any promises though so don't act surprised if the two of you start getting deliveries soon. Are the two of you thinking of moving?"

Aly looked over at Steve and softly shrugged her shoulders. They hadn't talked about it yet although she knew they needed to at least find a two bedroom apartment. She figured that they'd start looking at apartments soon though. "I'm assuming we will. The apartment that we have no isn't going to be big enough for me, Steve and a baby after all. Maybe for awhile it would work if we keep the crib in our bedroom but it would be nice to have a room for our baby," she said with another shrug. "A one bedroom apartment is only going to work while the baby is really small. Eventually we're going to want a room for him or her after all."

Steve raised an eyebrow at her. He knew that he hadn't discussed it yet but he did want to move with her but he was hoping that they could look for houses in the suburbs. He remembered that dream that he'd had and he was hoping to make it a reality. "What about a house? There are some nice houses that we could maybe move into too," he said with a little shrug, deciding that now was as good a time as any to throw the idea out there. When he saw Aly smile a little, he knew it was a good idea. "I was thinking that it might be nice to have a house for our family because I'm hoping this won't be our last baby."

Aly threw her arms around Steve's neck and kissed him. She didn't pull back from the kiss either and it wasn't like Steve was going to stop her from kissing him right now. She was just so happy that Steve wanted to do something like that and she wanted to show him how happy she was. It wasn't until Tony cleared his throat that Aly even thought about pulling back from the kiss. When she pulled back, she saw that Steve was blushing pretty brightly and she knew that she was blushing a little too. She giggled and gave Pepper and Tony a little shrug.

"I'd say that she's pretty happy with that idea. Wouldn't you?" Tony asked with a chuckle.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Short chapter. I apologize. I still want to thank you all for your 2116 views, 47 follows and 30 favorites as well as the 17 reviews. You all amaze me and I'm so thankful to know that I have readers who like what I'm writing. I've been trying so hard to write whenever I can but with the holidays, updates will probably become even more sporadic. I apologize in advance but I'm hoping you all stick with me anyway because you all are so amazing!

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When they left the diner, Tony gave them the number of a real estate agent that he knew that could help Steve and Aly with their house hunting. Since it was a Sunday, Aly made a promise to call the realtor on Monday afternoon when she had a break at work. Steve had to admit that he was glad that Tony wanted to help them out like this, especially since he didn't have to help Steve and Aly at all. Since it wasn't that late yet, Aly suggested that they stop at a store so she could pick up some maternity clothes. She knew that she was going to need them soon because her stomach was starting to grow, whether Steve saw it or not.

Steve drove them to Motherhood Maternity and he sat around while Aly picked things out and even tried a few things on. There were a couple of times that he stopped her before she could say that she didn't like something because he thought she looked nice in a dress or something like that. All that it took was hearing that Steve liked something and she would cave and say that she'd get whatever it was. Finally Aly settled on some staples that she knew that she'd wear on a regular basis. That meant dressier pants and skirts for work and a few nice tops as well. It also meant t-shirts and camisoles that she could wear on a regular basis as well. She even got a few pair of jeans since she knew that she'd need them.

Aly leaned her head on headrest as Steve drove them back to their apartment. She had her head turned toward him, watching him as he drove. "You really want to move to the suburbs, Steve?" she suddenly asked. It wasn't something that they'd talked about much since lunch and Aly wanted to know where Steve's head really was with the idea.

Steve smiled and nodded, glancing over at Aly as they stopped at a stop light. "I do. A nice house that we can grow into. What? Don't you like the idea?" he said, raising an eyebrow before he started driving when the light changed. He had thought that Aly liked the idea but now he wasn't sure. "If you don't want to, we don't have to do that."

Aly laughed softly and shook her head. "No, that's not it at all. I like the idea. I was just a little surprised that you made that suggestion," she said with a shrug. She glanced out the windshield to see how far they were from the apartment. "So how big of a house were you thinking about getting? Or how big of a family were you thinking of having?"

Steve chuckled and glanced over at Aly for a moment. He shrugged and made the last turn toward their apartment building. "Two kids? Maybe three?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Aly again. He didn't want to push it because while he wouldn't mind a bigger family, he didn't want to say more than three kids and have Aly get upset or something. "We should get at least a four bedroom house, in case we have three kids. If we don't, we can use that extra room for guests."

"Or we can get something bigger than that," Aly said with a soft smile. "Just in case we have more than three kids." When she saw the look on Steve's face when she said that, she laughed and gave him a little shrug. "I'm not worried about that too much. I want to have a bigger family too. Three or four kids."

Steve chuckled as he parked the car, looking over at Aly once he turned off the car. "I'm surprised to hear that. We can look for five bedroom place if you'd like," he said with a nod. "I just want you to be happy, Alyssa. You know that."

"Oh I'm well aware. If you had your way, we'd be married already but because I keep asking you wait," Aly said with a little shrug. She unbuckled her seat belt before leaning in to kiss him softly. "I love you, Steve, and I'm glad that you're willing to wait until I'm ready to get married. I know that I'm very lucky to have you. Now let's head in because I'm hungry."

Steve chuckled and shook his head a little before he got out of the car, hurrying around to open her door for her. He wasn't surprised to hear that she was hungry again. He would've figured that she would've eaten more when they went out to lunch and while there was still time before they'd be making dinner, it seemed that Aly usually grabbed some kind of a snack at about this time every day. "Let's get you in and get you and that hungry little baby something to eat," he said with a grin as he helped Aly out of the car. "What does my girl want?"

Aly raised an eyebrow as she looked over at Steve. "Honestly? It's probably going to sound weird," she said with a shrug. When Steve shook his head and frowned at what she said, she laughed and shrugged again. "A fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. With chocolate sauce." She sighed when Steve made a face at her and she even took a step away from him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled Aly close again. She gave him a punch in the stomach and pouted. "Don't make fun of me. It sounds really good right now and that's what I'm going to make. We still have some chunky peanut butter, right?"

Steve made another face and shrugged. "I think so but if we don't, I can stop at the store while you get everything else ready," he said before kissing her temple. He was just glad that she wasn't going to try to get him to eat that sandwich. Of course she had deep fried pickles the other day and Steve really didn't know how any of that could taste good at all. He wasn't going to comment though because Aly was pregnant and he knew that some pregnant women had strange cravings. As long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** I know that updates have gotten slow but I promise that there should only be a couple more chapters of this fluffy stuff of Steve and Aly at home and whatnot. Then a villain is going to enter the picture to shake things up a bit. Between writing and work and other real life issues, updates, however, will remain slow. Thank you for sticking it out though. I appreciate all of you! So thank you for the 2553 views, 31 favorites, 51 followers and 21 reviews. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep your attention as the story continues because it's all of you that keep me writing!

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While Aly sat in the living room to eat the sandwich that she made for herself, Steve cleaned up the mess that she left behind in the kitchen. It wasn't much of a mess but there was a frying pan and a spatula to be washed and there was a bit of mess on the counter from her trying to figure out how to make the sandwich she decided that she wanted. However, it took her two tries before Aly got the sandwich right. Of course Steve didn't see how it was 'right' at all but if it made her happy, he wasn't going to say anything. He just knew that he'd never eat that sandwich, not even if someone paid him to do it.

When Aly came shuffling back into the kitchen with her hands a mess with chocolate sauce and peanut butter, Steve chuckled and shook his head. Then he looked at her face and laughed a little louder. He grabbed the washcloth from the sink and wiped around her mouth, shaking his head again with a bit of a smile on his face before handing her the washcloth in case she wanted to finish cleaning herself up on her own. Steve had to admit that he thought that she looked adorable like that, although he was pretty sure Aly would smack him for telling her that.

"What can I say? I'm a messy eater," Aly said with a giggle and a quick shrug of her shoulders. She took the washcloth from Steve and started to clean up her hands. Once she was cleaned up, she started to poke through the cabinets to look for something. When she didn't find it, she pursed her lips and then looked over at Steve with both hands on her hips. "Are we out of marshmallow fluff now? And Nutella?"

Steve gave her a little shrug. Sometimes he wasn't sure what she was asking for but usually he could find whatever Aly wanted at the store when she sent him to the store. "If there isn't any in the cabinet, then I guess we're out. I'll make a list and go shopping soon. I promise," he said, nodding. "Why? Are you still hungry?" He couldn't help the amused look on his face when he asked her that after putting away the dishes. Steve walked over and wrapped Aly up in his arms with a smile before kissing her shoulder and then nibbling and kissing her neck. "If you really want any of that stuff right now, I'll run to the store now."

Aly shook her head and smiled as she turned in Steve's arms. "I've got potato chips and vanilla ice cream. I'm good," she said with a laugh before turning in his arms again. She gave him a little tug and Steve followed her, getting a bowl and a spoon out for her after letting her go so she could get whatever else she wanted. Aly scooped herself some vanilla ice cream, then added some chocolate syrup to it before grabbing the bag of potato chips. "Let's put on a movie and relax on the couch. It's been a pretty busy day so far. Maybe you should make some popcorn. Do we have any M&Ms? You should make popcorn and put some M&Ms in it."

Steve chuckled and gave Aly a little pat on the ass after turning her toward the living room. "Go in there and pick out a movie and I'll get us some more snacks," he said with a grin. He was making a mental note of all the things that he was going to have to get from the store soon. He figured that while Aly was at school, he could run to the store and get what they needed. Steve didn't mind though. It gave him something to do while she was gone. Once he had the popcorn made, he put it into two bowls. He found a bag of plain M&Ms for Aly as well. Then he grabbed them each a bottle of raspberry iced tea before heading for the living room as well.

"So what are we watching today?" Steve asked as he made his way over to the couch. He smiled when Aly shifted so Steve could sit down too. When she leaned against him once he was settled in, he let out a soft but happy sigh. He knew that he still hadn't gotten himself all caught up with pop culture but he felt like he had seen quite a few of those movies that Aly thought he should see. "I'm up for anything."

"Well we can watch _Fargo_, _Comrade X_ or _Nine Months_. So which one sounds more interesting to you?" Aly said, as she flipped through the channel guide a little more. There were probably other movies that they could watch but those were ones that she thought Steve should see or would want to see. Plus all three would be starting in the next five minutes. "If you want to watch something else just let me know."

"No, those movies sound just fine. How about _Fargo_?" Steve asked, although he had no idea what that movie was about. He just figured that the title sounded interesting so it might not be a bad movie for them to watch.

Aly nodded with a smile as she flipped through the channels, tuning in just in time for the movie to start. Then she settled in next to Steve and started in on her ice cream. She used the potato chips that she had to scoop up some of the ice cream. When she looked up at Steve, she laughed at the look on his face as she did it. Aly offered him some but he just shook his head. Then she used the spoon that she had with her and offered him some ice cream. That Steve took with a soft smile. His attention seemed to be split between the TV and Aly though and she gave him a nudge for that, shaking her head.

These were the kinds of moments that Aly enjoyed, spending time with Steve while doing normal things. She liked when she got to introduce him to something new as well. He seemed to be doing a very good job of navigating through the modern world though and she liked to think that she had something to do with that. Aly smiled when she heard Steve sigh happily as he settled in as well, his attention almost completely caught by the movie now. She had to try not to laugh at the way that Steve could get so into the movies that they watched.

By the time the movie was over, Steve and Aly had finished the popcorn that he'd made for them and Aly had finished off the M&Ms as well. She felt like she had a serious sweet tooth lately and she was hungry already. Steve saw the way that she was looking at him right now and he chuckled. He knew what that meant and he shifted before kissing her on the head. Steve was ready to head to the store to pick up whatever she wanted for dinner because he had a feeling that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be something that they had at home. He didn't mind though because he liked taking care of Aly. Anything that she wanted or needed, he'd run to the store to pick it up for her.

"What do you want me to get from the store?" he asked as he started to stand up.

Aly bit her bottom lip as she sat up. "Get a couple of pizza crusts. You know, those pre-made ones?" she said as she stood up and walked into the kitchen. She went through the cabinets a little and then turned around. When she saw Steve leaning in the doorframe, Aly couldn't help but smile at him. "You're going to think this sounds weird but I want to make one of the pizzas with peanut butter, marshmallow fluff and bananas on it. Like a dessert pizza, I guess. I want bacon bits and pineapple slices for the other one. You can get a third pizza crust so that way you can have a pizza that you like too."

Steve made a face at her requests but nodded, making a mental note of what he needed to get. He added sausage, green peppers and onions to that mental list, as well as plenty of cheese. When Aly saw the fact that Steve made she rolled her eyes at him though. He walked over and kissed her temple softly and took a quick peek into the refrigerator to see if there was anything else that they could use right now. Steve figured that he'd go grocery shopping tomorrow but he wanted to get anything else that he and Aly might really need while he was out.

"You need to stop making those faces at me, Steven," she said, her hands on her hips as she looked at him. Actually Aly was almost glaring at Steve right now. "I can't help what I want to eat. I have a sweet tooth. What can I say?"

"You do realize that you're the only one that will be eating either of those pizzas that you talked about making, right?" Steve asked as he turned to grab his jacket, patting his pocket to make sure his wallet was in his pocket as well. "I don't see how you can eat that stuff."

"It's really not that bad. It could be worse. I could want pickles and ice cream or peanut butter or something," she said with a little shrug. "Don't start with me though. I'm pregnant. These are the things that I'm craving. You don't have to eat it if you don't want to but don't make faces at me when I ask for it or even while I'm eating it."

Steve held up his hands in surrender, nodding. He would have to work on it when it came down to making faces while she was eating certain things but he knew that he could stop himself from making faces at the food that she requested. "I'll be back soon. I'll go grocery shopping tomorrow but I'm going to pick up all those things to make dinner tonight and I'll grab us some more iced tea. Okay?"

Aly sighed and nodded. "You're going to still make faces but I appreciate that you're going to try," she said with a little shrug. "Can you get some chocolate syrup and some more milk too? Oh! And strawberry sauce too. Please?"

Steve chuckled as he reached the door, nodding. "I'll be back soon," he called out as he left for the store.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** My apologies for how long it's been taking me to update this story. I have some ideas in mind that I'm trying to execute and I'm not really sure that I'm doing it as well as I would've liked. This will hopefully help set up some of what's to come. I apologize for how short this chapter is as well. It's my hope that the following chapters will be longer and better and that you'll all enjoy what's coming. Thank you again for the 31 favorites, 51 follows, 24 reviews and 2940 views to this story. I hope that you're truly enjoying it and that you'll hang in there with me throughout this second story!

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The two of them settled into their nightly routine of making dinner, although Steve had to keep himself from commenting on what Aly was eating. He had promised not to make comments about what she was eating lately after all. They even sat down in the living room to watch a movie together, which seemed to be another nightly routine for the two of them. Halfway through the movie, Steve got up to clean up, telling Aly that she should put her feet up and relax right now. She tried to argue with him about it but he didn't listen, getting up and heading for the kitchen.

After putting away the leftovers and washing and drying all of their dishes, he headed back into the living room, chuckling at the sleepy look on Aly's face. He caught the end of the movie, wrapping his arm around Aly once he was on the couch again. He didn't change the channel once the movie ended, figuring on watching whatever followed. Steve wasn't too surprised when Aly fell asleep before the second movie was even halfway finished, leaned up against him. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her into bed, taking off her jeans before tucking her into bed.

Steve watched Aly for a moment, leaning against the door frame with a soft smile on his face. She looked so happy and so peaceful that it made him wonder what she was dreaming about. He knew that all of his best dreams were about Aly after all so he wondered if her best dreams were about him. With a sigh, Steve raked his fingers through his hair and turned to head for the bathroom. He figured that a long, warm shower was what he needed to unwind right now. He wasn't that tired yet and watching a movie didn't quite appeal to him so a long, warm shower sounded like it might do the trick.

He was slow to undress and then Steve tested the water to get it the right temperature before he fully pulled back the shower curtain and stepped into the shower. While he stood under the warm water, he closed his eyes and tried to let the water wash away any stress from the day. He let out a little groan as he felt like the knots in his muscles started to come undone. Steve felt like maybe he was starting to relax a little as his body seemed to start to unwind. He stood there like that for a long moment before reaching for the shampoo.

He stood under the water for a long moment again after rinsing the suds out of his hair. He reached for the body wash and one of those bath poofs that Aly seemed to like use so much. As Steve started to wash himself up though, he had to shake off this strange feeling of foreboding that came over him. After rinsing off again, he let out a frustrated sigh, remaining under the water for a long moment. Steve was hoping that if he stayed under the water like this for awhile longer, maybe that relaxed feeling would return. The problem was that the longer that he stood there, the more he felt worried. What was supposed to be a relaxing shower didn't seem to accomplish what he was aiming for because by the time he stepped out of the shower, he found himself worried about something that he didn't understand.

He dried off a bit and then headed for the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Steve walked into the bedroom and pulled on his boxers and a pair of gray pajama pants before climbing into bed. He saw Aly stir and he pulled her close, hoping that she'd drift back to sleep instead of waking like he knew that she would.

"Just go back to sleep," he whispered against her hair, holding Aly close. Steve had her back pressed against his chest although she turned in his arms so she was facing him. He chuckled and kissed the top of Aly's head with a smile. "Everything's alright, Alyssa."

He heard her sigh softly with her eyes still closed. Steve kissed the top of her head and smiled when he felt her nudge him so he was lying on his back. Then Aly scooted herself closer, lying half of her body on Steve with her one hand resting right over his heart and her head on his chest. He let his fingers run along her spine, watching as his touch lulled Aly right back to sleep.

He closed his eyes, trying to sleep but he couldn't quite shake that feeling of foreboding that he'd started to feel when he was in the shower. Steve didn't know what it was but something didn't feel right. He held Aly closer for a moment and softly sighed. He was staring at the ceiling right now, trying to feel comforted by the bit of weight he felt on him. At least he knew that Aly was safe right now. The thing was that Steve was very worried about her safety at the moment. He knew enough to trust his gut. Something wasn't right and he was going to have to do everything that he could to protect her and their unborn child.

Maybe he didn't know what was coming but Steve felt like something was going to happen and it was coming soon. Whatever it was, he knew that he was going to have to be prepared for anything and everything. He nuzzled his nose in Aly's hair, taking a deep breath. After breathing her in for a moment, Steve forced himself to close his eyes. He had to just hope that sleep would come to him eventually.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Thank you all for sticking with me and continuing to read this story. I'm amazed by all of you! You're what keeps me going! I hope that you'll like where the story is going because it's been a little harder to write this second story than it had been to write the first story! Thank you all for the 3205 views (!), the 26 reviews (!), the 32 favorites (!) and the 51 follows (!) because you all are amazing. Enjoy this next chapter!

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Steve had slept rather restlessly but he didn't let Aly know it when she got up in the morning. He let her go about her morning routine while he continued to lay in bed for awhile longer. He still couldn't shake that feeling that something was wrong but he didn't want to worry Aly. It was probably nothing after all. It was just a gut feeling and he'd handle whatever it was, hopefully without Aly ever knowing that something was wrong.

Once he knew that she was up and eating, Steve climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom. He splashed his face with cold water, patting his face dry before he walked into the kitchen. It didn't take him long to grab a bowl of oatmeal with some fresh blueberries along with a cup of orange juice. He couldn't have coffee in the morning anymore. The smell of it made Aly sick to her stomach and the last thing that he wanted to do was make her feel sick already this morning. He sat down at the table, half watching Aly eat as he ate his breakfast. They didn't say much to each other although Aly had said good morning when he walked into the kitchen. She got up and kissed his cheek before she made herself a cup of tea.

Steve watched her as she leaned on the counter, watching him. He chuckled a little, getting up to put his bowl and his cup into the sink. He'd clean up after the both of them once Aly was off to work. Right now he wanted to enjoy the moments that they had before she had to leave. She was back at the table, finishing off her breakfast while Steve took a peek in the cabinets and in the refrigerator, making a mental list of the groceries that they needed. When he was done, he turned to look at Aly, chuckling when he caught her staring at him.

"Tonight I want to make you dinner," Steve suddenly said as Aly sipped on some ginger tea. He tried not to laugh when he saw the surprise on Aly's face. He didn't normally cook for them but tonight he wanted to see if he could make her something special for dinner. While he would help make dinner on most nights, it was Aly that cooked for the most part and when she didn't seem up for cooking, they would order take out. Tonight Steve wanted to spoil Aly a little and try to make something good for dinner. "What do you want tonight?"

Aly set down her mug and put the bowl that her maple and brown sugar oatmeal had been in into the sink. She was leaning against the counter as she reached for her tea again. Since she didn't want to drink too much caffeine these days, she settled on ginger tea or green tea most mornings although she'd have a soda from time to time but since getting pregnant, Aly did limit her caffeine intake. Plus the smell of coffee brewing made her feel queasy most of the time. She sipped her tea as she tried to think of something that sounded good but wouldn't sound too weird to Steve. Aly had noticed that she was having cravings for things lately and some of the combinations were a little odd, which was something that Steve had commented on. "Let's keep it simple. Do you think you can handle making roasted chicken and mashed potatoes? I think that sounds really good."

Steve chuckled and nodded. He figured that he could find a recipe somewhere and figure it out. As much as he knew that he didn't have to do it, Steve wanted to do something nice for Aly. He thought that dinner would be the perfect thing. "Are you packing a lunch today or getting something at some point?" he asked, his head cocked to the side a bit as he looked Aly over. While he knew that he shouldn't worry so much, Steve did like to make sure that Aly ate. "I just want to make sure …"

"Steven Rogers, if you say that you want to make sure that I'm eating, I will punch you in the arm right now," Aly said, raising an eyebrow since she knew that was exactly where this conversation was going. She knew that she'd figure out lunch later on. She didn't have the energy to worry about packing a lunch right now and there wasn't anything that she wanted in the apartment anyway. "We need to get more Nutella. We need bananas and more marshmallow fluff too. Once we have that, I'll start packing my lunches again."

Steve chuckled and shrugged a little. He made a mental note of those things that she mentioned. He was aware that they needed a few things anyway so he didn't see a problem with running to the grocery store. He was going to have to .get a few things for dinner after all. "I'll get some today. I promise," Steve said as he put an arm around Aly and kissed the top of her head. "Have a good day. Okay? Be safe."

Aly raised an eyebrow as she looked at Steve again. She rolled her eyes when he told her to be safe. She knew that being with him meant that there could be danger around every corner but Aly really didn't think that he needed to remind her to be safe. It wasn't like she went looking for trouble after all. If anything, it seemed that trouble found her. "I'll be safe. I promise. Nothing bad will happen to me," she said with a little smile. After giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she grabbed her messenger bag and started for the door.

"Alyssa?"

Aly turned around with a soft sigh. "I love you," she said, figuring that he had been waiting for her to say that before she left. When Steve chuckled and shook his head a little in response, she shook her head a little at him with a smile. If that wasn't what he was waiting for, Aly really didn't know what he could possibly want. "What, Steve?"

"I love you too but you forgot something," he said with a laugh. When he saw that confused look on her face, Steve walked over with her keys in his hand. He set them in her hand and then kissed her softly. He held her tight and then whispered in her ear. "I'll see you tonight."

"I'll see you soon, Steve. Don't burn the apartment down when you try to make dinner tonight," Aly said with a laugh before opening the door, closing it behind her. She headed right to her car with a smile still stuck to her face. Thinking of coming home to him making her dinner was the one thing that was going to get Aly through the day.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Thank you all for still sticking with me. It has been a crazy holiday season for me and I have just gotten back to writing. It's going to be awhile before there's another update but I hope that you'll stick around and keep reading. I appreciate the 26 reviews, 54 follows, 35 favorites and 3796 views from you all. You make this writer happy to keep writing and you keep Aly and Steve bouncing around in my head enough to keep me writing as well! Enjoy the new chapter!

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Aly had talked her friend and co-worker, Danielle, into running with her to the Shake Shack to grab lunch. While Danielle had brought a lunch, Aly didn't have anything with her and she really hadn't wanted to go alone to get something to eat. It didn't take long for Aly to talk Danielle into going with her though. While she didn't have to pull the pregnancy card, she knew that was the reason that Danielle had agreed to go. She wasn't about to let Aly go without lunch after all.

Aly hadn't wasted any time in figuring out what she wanted to order. While maybe she didn't need to eat as much as she did, she ordered quite a bit because she was hungry. The line had been long enough so after they got their food, Danielle said that they should eat on the way back to school. Danielle even insisted on driving so Aly could eat, especially since it was Aly who had gotten the most food. She had finished off the cheeseburger that she had gotten topped with ranch, bacon and peppers and the cheese fries that she had ordered by the time they got back to the school. Aly had been sipping the peanut butter shake as well but it was the two scoops of cinnamon cream cheese custard that she had been looking forward to and it was the whole reason that she'd suggested going to the Shake Shack in the first place. That she finished off in the car once they were parked.

Danielle had laughed at her for all of the food that she had gotten but she understood why Aly had so much to eat. Eating for two seemed to include Aly eating things that she didn't normally eat though and that included that burger she had ordered. They talked a bit in the car, with Danielle asking Aly questions about Steve and about how the pregnancy was going. She did her best to answer the questions with answers that were as honest as she could be without telling Danielle too much. Danielle even asked Aly how she was liking being a teacher and if Aly felt ready for her own classroom, something that would happen soon enough actually. Aly laughed and told Danielle that she was more than ready for her own classroom as she finished off the frozen custard that she'd gotten. Once they finished eating, they headed into the school although Danielle stopped off at the front office to pick up a worksheet that she had needed copies of while Aly headed to her classroom.

Aly was still carrying the cup that the rest of her peanut butter shake was in as she walked down the hall alone. The kids were still at lunch so the halls were quiet for now. The shake made her feel like she was craving something else though although she wasn't sure what it was. While what she'd ordered for lunch had been good, it hadn't really been what she wanted. She realized that when she had taken the first bite of the cheeseburger. It was good enough to satisfy her hunger but she knew that she'd probably be poking around in the kitchen when she got home later today. She was lost in thought, sipping her shake, when a woman tightly grabbed her shoulder.

Aly looked toward the person who had grabbed her, realizing suddenly how firm the other woman's grip was, especially when Aly tried to slip out of the woman's grasp. It made her uncomfortable and that seemed to make the woman hold a little tighter to Aly. It wasn't enough to hurt her but it was enough to leave her feeling unnerved. With her eyebrows knitted together in concentration, she tried to figure out who this woman was and why she was here right now. She didn't recognize the woman as someone who worked at the school and Aly didn't recognize the woman as a parent of any of her students either. "Can I help you?" Aly finally asked, tilting her head to the side a bit.

The woman, a tall redhead with bright green eyes, stared Aly down. She even looked Aly over a couple of times and let out an unamused laugh before shaking her head. She finally let go of Aly, folding her arms across her chest. "Miss Harper?" the woman said although from the tone of her voice, it seemed like it was less of a question and more of a statement. When Aly gave the woman a bit of a nod, a smile seemed to turn up the corners of her lips although there was nothing "nice" or "sweet" about the look in this woman's eyes. "Thank you for your offer but I found what I was looking for."

Aly noticed that the woman had a German accent although it was softened by a bit of a British accent as well. Without thinking about it, Aly put her hand on her stomach and then took a step back now that she was free of the woman's grasp. Suddenly she felt like the woman was standing a little too close and she didn't like the way this woman was looking at her right now. It gave her a chill that seemed to rush right through her. "I … I have to go. Excuse me," Aly said, looking down. She quickly ducked into her classroom although she saw the woman walk by.

Aly shivered a little when the woman looked into the room as she passed, glaring at Aly in the process. Swallowing hard, Aly opened the binder that she had her lesson plans in and looked over what she was going to do this afternoon, trying to shake that foreboding feeling that she had right now. It was something that she had felt before but she thought that it would be silly to worry too much about it. The woman had shaken Aly enough that her concentration really wasn't where it should have been. It was one of those gut feelings that something wasn't right although she couldn't put her finger on what was wrong. She reached into her messenger bag for her phone, turning it on. She even went through her phone book, stopping on Steve's name and looking at her phone while she debated calling him. Aly thought twice about calling Steve though, figuring that the feeling would pass. She didn't want to worry him about something that was probably just Aly overreacting.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Well, well, well. Here we are. Another chapter in! Thank you all again for your reviews, follows and favorites. I appreciate it all so much! So thank you for the 28 reviews, 57 follows, 37 favorites and 4351 views. You all amaze me! Keep reading. There's more to come! Enjoy the latest chapter!

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Aly made it through the rest of her day without worrying too much about the woman that had stopped her in the hall. Occasionally she found herself looking over her shoulder, stealing a glance out into the hallway or something like that. While the meeting had been odd, she pushed it to the back of her mind and focused as much as she could on teaching. Once she got into her lesson plan, she found it easy to forget about everything else. The only time that Aly glanced outside or into the hallway was when she thought that she was being watched but she shook it off quickly enough. By the time the day was over, she was ready to get home to Steve, to be somewhere that she felt safe and secure. After she finished grading some tests, Aly gathered her things and headed out to her car.

As she crossed the parking lot, she spotted the red-haired woman sitting across the street on a bench. Aly jumped when she saw the woman, dropping her things in the process. She scrambled to pick them up, letting out a little gasp when someone reached for a stack of papers at the same time she did. It was a woman's hand and it startled Aly. When she realized it was just Danielle, she gave the other woman a smile and nodded a quick thank you. By the time she looked across the street again, the red-haired woman was gone. Aly felt like her heart was racing and she hurried to her car, her keys out before she even reached her vehicle just in case. Unlocking the doors, she tossed her things onto the passenger seat before quickly getting into the car. She locked the doors as soon as she was in the car, sticking her keys into the ignition.

Her hands were shaking so much that Aly wasn't able to start the car right away. Instead she grabbed the wheel with both hands, leaning forward to rest her forehead against the steering wheel. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, hoping that it would be enough to calm herself down. Even after she felt a little more relaxed, she waited a few moments before starting her car. Aly watched as a few people walked past her car, trying to give them smiles. She was always smiling after all so she tried to smile a little. Her hands were still shaking a little as she pulled out of the parking spot.

Aly was watching the road more carefully than ever, both hands on the wheel. She even turned the music off as she drove, trying to focus on the road and hoping that she wouldn't catch a glimpse of that woman again. While she thought that she was being vigilant, it turned out that Aly wasn't paying enough attention to the road or that someone else wasn't paying enough attention. As she tapped her breaks as she neared a red light, Aly was rear ended hard enough to push the front end of her car into the intersection just enough that she was hit a second time, setting off the airbag.

The next thing that Aly knew she was opening her eyes to harsh lights and hearing this steady beeping sound. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light and she wasn't seeing spots in front of her eyes anymore, she realized that she had an IV in her arm and that she was hooked up to a machine that was monitoring her heart rate. When she looked, trying to be careful as she turned her head, Aly realized there was a fetal heart monitor hooked up as well. Looking to the side made her feel dizzy but when the room stopped spinning, she saw Steve sitting there beside her bed with his head in his hands.

"Steve?"

His head shot up at the hoarse sound of Aly's voice. The look of worry on his face was clear and his eyes looked a bit bloodshot as if he had been crying although he was trying not to show it. Steve jumped up and went to sit at her side on the bed, taking her hand in his now that she was awake. He seemed happy to see that although Steve couldn't completely hide his worry.

"Do you know how worried I've been?" Steve asked, his voice a bit hoarse. He hugged her tightly to his chest before kissing her roughly. He let her go with a little smile on his face. Still Steve was trying to be careful with Aly. He didn't want to hurt her or do anything that might make this worse. He knew what the doctor said about her possibly having a concussion so he was doing his best not to do anything to make that any worse than it already was.

Aly let out a happy sigh after Steve kissed her although she felt confused at the moment. "The … the last thing I remember was getting hit," she said with a little shake of her head although that seemed to make the room spin so she stopped almost as quickly as she started. She couldn't remember anything after that and she didn't recall being brought in to the hospital. "Is … is everything okay? I see … Is the …"

Steve put his hand on her stomach, giving the small bump there a little rub and nodding. "The baby's fine. The doctor says that you're fine too. Some bruises mostly but you blacked out. They were worried that you might've hit your head," he said. His hand moved up to gently caress her face, lightly brushing against her cheek before Steve placed a very soft and careful kiss onto her forehead. He already knew that she was more worried about the baby than herself although for him, he had been more worried about her than the baby. "I should've …"

"Steven Grant Rogers, don't you dare say that you should've been there to protect me," Aly said, trying her best to sound angry with him. Her voice was softer though because she couldn't bear to raise her voice. She had a feeling it would bring on a headache. When she tried to sit up a little, she found that she had to lie back down just as quickly. Aly was afraid she might throw up if she sat up right now and she raised her hand to gingerly touch her head. Everything felt okay except for a bump on her forehead. She was sure that she looked in rougher shape than she felt because other than her head, Aly felt perfectly fine. "You know that you can't be there to protect me all of the time. I'm okay and the baby's okay. That's the main thing."

"What happened?" he asked, concern flashing across his face for a moment again. Steve knew that he was going to beat himself up over this whether Aly liked it or not. He'd had a gut feeling that something was wrong last night and he let Aly go to class without warning her. Maybe if he had said something, she would've asked him to drive her to work and pick her up after school let out. "I know that you're a more careful driver than that so something happened."

Aly closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. She didn't remember everything with complete clarity and she was nervous to tell Steve about that mysterious redhead that had visited her at school and left her feeling so out of sorts. "I guess I wasn't paying as much attention as I usually do," she finally said, her voice almost a whisper.

Steve stroked her hair gently and sighed, shaking his head. "Are you sure that's at all it was? Maybe I should start taking you to work and picking you up," he said with a frown. He didn't want to smother Aly but he wasn't going to let her get hurt again. Next time it could be much worse than her just having a concussion after all.

"I tapped my brakes as I came up to a stop light and got rear ended. It bumped me out into the intersection a bit and I got hit," Aly said with a little shrug as she looked at Steve. She didn't want him so worried about her. She hated that she'd worried Steve at all actually. "I might have been a little distracted. I guess I should pay more attention to the road. I'm fine though. I don't think I'm going to need you driving me around all of the time."

Steve lightly stroked Aly's hair, letting out a soft sigh. He felt like there was something that she wasn't telling him but he wasn't going to press her either. She'd tell him everything in time. "I was so worried when I got the call," he said, shaking his head a bit. The thought seemed to bring tears to his eyes, reminding him of how gutted he'd felt when the hospital had called. They had gotten his phone number by going through her things. "You were in an out of it when they brought you in, mumbling my name. They went through your phone to find my number. I didn't know what to think when I got the call."

Aly mustered a soft smile and reached for Steve's hand. She hated that she had made him feel this way. She didn't like seeing Steve so upset but she didn't know how to fix that. The accident had happened after all. She couldn't change that. She just wished that Steve wouldn't be so worried about her. "I'm fine, Steve. I'm sure by tomorrow I'll be up and around without any trouble," she said with a bit of a nod. "The baby's fine too so there's nothing to worry about."

Steve's hand went to Aly's stomach, softly rubbing the slight curve there. He gave her a soft smile, nodding a bit. He knew that she was right. There was no reason for him to worry but he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. He leaned in and kissed her stomach, smiling wider when Aly let out a laugh at that. Then Steve leaned in and softly kissed her too. His fingers lightly brushed her cheek and along her jaw. He was so nervous right now, so worried about Aly and her safety.

"I never should have gotten you involved in this life," Steve said with a soft sigh.

Aly's eyes widened at Steve's words. Her heartbeat started to pick up and she was breathing a bit harder. "I … Steve … what are you saying?" she asked, her voice cracking. Tears threatened to spill over as she looked at him. She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. The last thing that she wanted was to cry but if Steve was saying what she thought he was saying, Aly didn't know what she would do.

Steve kissed her softly, shaking his head a bit. "No, I wouldn't … I'd never … not now," he said, fumbling for the right words. He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. This wasn't coming out the way that Steve had meant for it to come out. "I didn't mean it like that. I wouldn't leave you. I just … I never should have told you … everything. Maybe none of this would have happened."

Aly rolled her eyes a bit. "If you're going to blame everything that ever happens on the fact that I know about you being Captain America, then we're going to have a problem, Steven," she said in a harsh whisper. She was smart enough to know to keep her voice down after all but Aly still wanted him to know what an idiot she thought he was being. "This was a car accident. That's it. What happened at the UN building wasn't because of who you are. It was an attempted terrorist attack. So far none of the things that have happened are because I know that you're Captain America. If you think that you're going to somehow scare me away, you're crazy. I'm here and you're stuck with me. That's all that there is to it."

Steve knew that Aly was strong and tenacious and that she wasn't going to walk away over something like this but he worried that one day something would happen that would push her away and he didn't know what he'd do when that day came. He looked down, his eyes closing for a moment as he processed her words. Steve knew that Aly was right but the problem was that one day something was going to happen to her and it was going to be because he was Captain America. Someone was going to target her as a way of getting to him. If something happened to her then, Steve knew that he'd fall into a rage and a depression that no one would be able to help him out of. No one but Aly herself.

"I can't lose you. That's all," he said, his voice soft. Steve looked up at her with a sheepish look on his face. "I love you, Alyssa."

Aly smiled a little and brushed her fingers on his cheek. "I love you too, Steve. Now do me a favor. Go home and get some rest," she said with a little nod. "You can come get me in the morning."

Steve let out a heavy sigh before nodding in agreement. He knew that there was no way that he'd ever get her to walk out on him so he knew better than to keep trying. She was going to be a part of his life for as long as he could protect her. While he felt emotionally and mentally exhausted, Steve knew that when he left he wasn't going to get much sleep. He didn't feel like he needed much sleep these days anyway. He leaned in and carefully kissed her forehead.

"Get some rest and try to eat something. Please," Steve said with a little nod. Since he wouldn't be there to keep an eye on Aly, he was going to have to hope that she'd do as he asked without him being there to prompt her to do it. "For me."

Aly nodded with a little. She knew that she didn't have a choice in that matter. It wasn't because of Steve though. She knew that the hospital wouldn't let her go until she ate something and kept it down. While she didn't want to eat, once Steve left, Aly knew that she'd order something small to eat. If not for her, then for the baby. They might have her on an IV but that wasn't going to be enough. She watched as Steve got his jacket, smiling as he leaned in for one last kiss before leaving the room. Aly let out a sigh, turning on the TV before calling for her nurse.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Thank you all for sticking with me even though my updates have been slow coming. I'm trying my hardest to get updates up as often as possible for all of you! Thank you for the 30 reviews, the 4878 views, the 41 favorites and the 65 followers! I appreciate all of you so much more than I can put into words. You're all amazing and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

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Steve decided that he was going to head for the gym after leaving the hospital. He felt like he was wound too tight to go back to the apartment for the night after all and he needed something to do with himself until he got tired enough to try to get some sleep. It would be too quiet, too lonely without Aly there tonight anyway. There was no way that he was going to want to be in that apartment without her. While he was aware that Aly was okay and their baby was fine, Steve was still concerned for her safety. He couldn't seem to shake that feeling of foreboding. He couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he should've been there to help Aly either, whether she wanted to hear it or not.

Tonight, Steve knew that he wasn't going to get much sleep. He didn't mind though. He seemed fully capable of functioning on only a couple of hours of sleep actually. He credited it to all of that time that he had spent on ice but it probably had more to do with the super soldier serum that he had been given. If he got three hours of sleep, Steve knew he'd be able to fully function tomorrow. The less time that he had to spend at the apartment without Aly, the better in his opinion so he knew that he would be spending several hours at the gym.

He made a quick stop at the apartment to grab his gym bag and to grab a few of bottles of water since he knew it was going to be a long night. On the way to the gym, he made a point to stop to grab something to eat though. He knew what Aly would say if she found out that he hadn't eaten dinner, especially after he had gotten through telling her that she needed to eat something. Steve didn't feel much like eating but he needed the calories to keep up his strength. After wolfing down two cheeseburgers and some fries, he got back on his motorcycle and made sure that his next stop was the gym.

Nate didn't say anything to Steve other than to ask him to lock up, tossing a spare set of keys to him before leaving. Nate seemed to know enough to know when a man needed to be left alone with his thoughts. That was something that Steve liked about the man, how intuitive the other man could be. It was saving him the trouble of having to talk anyway. Not that he knew what he would've said to Nate about the situation. Steve nodded to Nate after catching the keys, swallowing hard as he wondered what Nate must be thinking right now. For Steve to show up right now, alone, he figured that Nate might be wondering what was going on with Aly but since Nate didn't ask, Steve didn't talk about it.

He slipped the spare keys into his gym bag and then quickly changed into his gym clothes. He taped up his hands and wrists and then set out some extra heavy bags. He had a feeling that he was going to need them. All the pent up frustration that he felt right now had Steve wound really tight and he knew he was going to end up breaking a few of those bags rather quickly. It was never something that he did on purpose and right now Steve needed a way to let out all of his emotions. This was the most constructive way that he knew how. Sure, he could find a quiet place to sit and draw but he knew that he didn't have the focus for that. This was something that Steve had the focus for however.

He didn't bother to check if Nate locked up once he knew he was alone, figuring that the other man had locked the door when he left. Steve couldn't be bothered with something like that. His sole focus right now was on working out the tension and frustration, the anger and the sadness that he felt. Steve wanted to clear his mind and this was the one way that he knew he could do it. He tried not to think as he started to hit the first bag but he couldn't seem to help it. His mind wandered as he punched the bag, trying to focus all of his energy on this one single activity.

At first he thought about how he'd gone from the little guy from Brooklyn to this, remembering all of the people that he'd met in the process. That brought forth anger about not being there for any of them when they needed him most, not that he could have helped it. He had been frozen in ice for 70 years. There wasn't much that Steve could do about that. He thought about Peggy and how he'd never had a chance with her. While he was completely in love with Aly, Steve knew there was a part of him that was angry about his lot in life. He'd had a life waiting for him in the 1940s and he'd missed it all. Starting over had been hard enough but to do it in such a modern time had left Steve a little more than frustrated with everything that he'd been through. Somewhere during all of this, he broke one heavy bag and then another.

Steve wiped the sweat from his brow and grabbed a bottle of water, drinking the whole thing down before he set up the next heavy bag. When he started to punch it again, his mind wandered to thoughts of Aly. He didn't hit it quite as hard at first, thinking about how he had felt when he first saw her. She had been something extraordinary, especially since she had gotten his attention. While he knew that women flirted with him, it was rare that a woman got Steve's attention but Aly had before he'd even spoken to her. She was beautiful and the power that she exhibited in the ring while she was sparring with Nate had been amazing. As nervous as he was, he knew he had to talk to her. One walk and one meal with her and he knew that he was caught. Aly had stolen his heart rather quickly actually and he had been nervous as hell to tell her everything about himself.

He thought about the night that he told Aly his story and how she had reacted. Steve remembered how afraid he had been that she was going to tell him to leave her the hell alone and how surprised he was that she didn't think he was completely crazy. Thoughts of every night with Aly from that point flashed through his mind, some making him blush a bit even as the thoughts came to him. He slowed his punching as he thought about the moment that he'd asked Aly to be his wife and how happy she had been. A smile made the corners of his mouth twitch upward for a moment as he remembered how she had told him that she was pregnant that night as well.

Then came thoughts of how she had been in the UN building before that and how he had to go in to save her. Steve broke another heavy bag then. That had been one of the most frightening moments of his life. He hadn't thought that was possible but the thought of losing Aly was almost too much to bear, even now. He knew that he'd saved her then but it made him worry about some time when he wouldn't be able to save her. There was always next time after all. There would always be some kind of threat and Steve was going to have to live with that. He grabbed another bottle of water after setting up another heavy bag, making a mental note to clean up the mess he was making from breaking these bags. He'd leave some money on Nate's desk to pay for the bags before he left.

After finishing another bottle of water, Steve started to hit the bag again. His thoughts wandered to all the different scenarios where Aly could get caught in the middle of something. None of these were things that had actually happened and most were things that would never happen but he couldn't seem to stop his mind from wandering to those sorts of things. The idea of someone getting to Aly, especially now, seemed to push Steve right back into a rage. He broke two more heavy bags before deciding to give up for a bit. He had no idea what time it was at this point but he thought it might be a good idea to clean up the mess that he had made. He wanted to grab a couple of hours of sleep before he went back up to the hospital to see his fiancée after all.

Steve found the broom and started to sweep up when he heard footsteps. It sounded like a woman, like high heels clicking against the hardwood floor. He didn't think that he'd been at the gym that long and he didn't remember seeing Nate or anyone else showing up yet for that matter. Steve's body tensed in anticipation, ready for some sort of threat. Right now was not a good time for anyone to show up out of the blue like this. He wasn't in the right frame of mind to deal with something like that. While he would never hit a woman unless he absolutely had to, Steve felt like his whole body was coiled, ready to strike.

When he turned, Steve was face to face with rather striking looking red head with bright green eyes. His guard seemed to fall as soon as he saw her, not sure what a woman like that was doing in a small dive of a gym like this. He was still holding the broom, leaning on it a bit. Most of the mess that he'd made was swept up already. Steve just had to finish cleaning it up.

"Can I help you with anything, ma'am?" he asked, his head cocked to the side a bit.

The woman gave Steve a slow smile and looked him over. Steve shivered slightly from the look in her eyes. She placed her well manicured hands on her hips and looked him over again, her eyes moving slowly. This time Steve blushed and looked away. He didn't like the way that she was looking at him or the way that she didn't seem to want to speak.

"Captain Rogers?" she finally said.

Steve's eyes shot up at the trace of an accent that he heard in the woman's voice. He gave her a quick nod. "Yes, ma'am. Can I help you with something?" he asked, not bothering to keep the edge out of the tone of his voice.

"How is your precious little Alyssa?" the woman asked, a smirk on her lips. The last thing that she was worried about was keeping up pretenses now. She walked a circle around Steve as she spoke. "I do hope that your bride-to-be and unborn child are alright. I heard that she is in the hospital."

Steve gritted his teeth, letting out a low growl. His grip on the broom tightened at the woman's comments about Aly and their baby. "Who the hell are you? What do you want?" he asked, growling the words.

The woman laughed, leaning in closer. "You will find out soon enough, Captain. You cannot mess with my family without me coming after yours," she said, brushing her index finger down Steve's cheek. When he quickly brushed her hand away, the woman laughed again. There was a smirk back on her lips as well as she shook her head. "You can't be there to protect her all of the time."

Steve's grip tightened again, snapping the broom handle in half. Part of him wanted to go after this woman but he didn't know who she was or what she might do to Aly. He looked at the mess that he had and let out a sigh. He did his best to clean it up with the broken broom. Then Steve left a note and some money on Nate's desk, apologizing for the broken broom and any mess that might be left behind. He even told Nate to buy some new heavy bags and a new broom with the money he left. Steve grabbed his phone and called the hospital to see how Aly was doing. When he felt satisfied that everything was okay, he jumped into the shower at the gym and quickly changed. He checked his watch and sighed. He knew that he needed to sleep. They weren't going to let him visit Aly yet. In fact he had at least four hours before visiting hours started.

With his gym bag in his hand, he looked around and headed for his motorcycle. He locked up the gym, slipping the spare keys in his gym bag and making a mental note to return them the next time that he saw Nate. Then Steve headed for the apartment. He could sleep for a couple of hours, change clothes and grab a bite to eat before heading to the hospital to see Aly. It was his hope that he'd be able to bring her home today anyway.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** It's been far too long since I've updated. I'm so very sorry about that. My life has been so busy that I haven't had the time to write or update this story. Here's an update and I promise that another will follow soon. Thank you so much for sticking with me and I hope that you like the update. I hope that you all enjoy reading this new chapter and that you'll be looking forward to the next one as well. Please read and review because you all know how much the reviews mean to me!

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Aly had made sure to eat something although the hospital food had been bland, even with adding some salt and pepper to the meal. It wasn't nearly enough either but she knew that she had to eat. She managed to eat a chicken sandwich and fries and some applesauce. It wasn't what she really wanted but she'd ask Steve to stop somewhere on the way home tomorrow. Maybe they'd get to leave the hospital in time for her and Steve to have brunch at The Good Fork or Betto, although she knew she was leaning toward Betto. Aly wanted their chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, smashed fried potatoes and thick cut bacon. Of course she could always talk Steve into stopping at some pizza place for lunch instead as well. A nice margharita pizza sounded good right now too.

Aly was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the red-haired woman walk into her hospital room. She jumped, her hand immediately going to her stomach when she saw the woman. The beeping on her heart monitor gave away the fact that she was scared out of her mind right now. She was breathing erratically as she watched the woman, her hand still on her stomach, lightly rubbing the slight but growing curve that was there. The woman gave her that slow smile that seemed to be absent of all warmth, making Aly shiver at the sight of it. She swallowed hard as the woman stepped even closer, grabbing for a pillow. Immediately, Aly hit the nurse's button, trying to push the woman away although with all of the wires and things that she was hooked up to, it didn't seem to be working. Just as the pillow touched her face, she let out a loud scream.

"Miss Harper. Miss Harper, are you alright?" a concerned voice asked.

Aly felt someone gently shaking her shoulders and she opened her eyes, blinking several times as she tried to make sense of what just happened. She had been sweating and she wiped the hair that was stuck to her forehead away from her face. She swallowed hard and looked around wildly. Aly was still breathing hard and still scared as hell. She was waiting to see the woman in the corner of the room or walking by the door. She was shaking at the thought and instantly felt protective of her baby, worrying about what might happen next. Aly quickly nodded, reaching for a glass of water. She took a sip before saying anything else.

"Can you get me a washcloth? Wet it in cool water, please," she asked, her voice a little hoarse from sleep and from fear. Aly waited until she saw the nurse leave the room before she sat up a bit more, looking around the room one more time. It had seemed so real. She would've thought that the woman had been in the room with her at the time. It hadn't felt like a dream at all. She would've sworn it was real. When the nurse came back, Aly gave her a calm smile, taking the washcloth and wiping her face and her neck. She gave the nurse a little nod, seeing the concern on the woman's face. "I'm fine. Thank you."

The nurse nodded, running her fingers through her graying blonde hair. "If you need anything, let me know. I could call that young man that was here earlier if you'd like," she said, hovering near the door right now.

Aly swallowed hard and shook her head, not wanting to worry the older woman. "I'm fine. I promise," she said. Once the nurse left the room, however, Aly grabbed the phone in her room and dialed Steve's number. She just needed to hear his voice for a moment. She needed that reassurance that everything was going to be okay and hearing Steve voice was enough to give her that kind of reassurance.

"Hello?"

Aly let out a sigh the moment that she heard Steve's voice, instantly feeling better just hearing him say hello. "Steve. Did I wake you up? Oh god, I probably woke you up. What time is it?" she said in a hurried voice when she realized that it was late. She looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. It was three in the morning and Aly suddenly felt terrible for calling Steve right now. He should be sleeping after all but she knew that she should be sleeping as well. It had been selfish of her to call him just because she needed to hear his voice. "I'm sorry. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Don't hang up, Aly," Steve said. He sounded like he was pleading with her. "Please. It's okay. I haven't been to bed yet."

"Steven, you need to sleep. It's three in the morning!"

Steve chuckled on the other end of the line. "Alyssa, you should be sleeping too," he said, amusement lacing his voice. "I can't seem sleep without you here. I'll get a few hours of sleep though. I promise. How are you? Is something wrong?"

Aly shook her head, closing her eyes. She wanted Steve to keep talking so she could hear his voice for a bit longer. That was all that she wanted right now. "I'm fine. Just had a nightmare is all. I wanted to hear your voice just once before I tried to go back to bed," she said with a soft sigh. "Why aren't you in bed, mister?"

Steve chuckled again and his voice came out soft and soothing. "I sleep better when you're with me, Alyssa. You should know that by now," he said. "I'll be there before you know it. Did you eat something?"

Aly could almost see Steve's smiling face right now. She had to admit that she liked the image in her head. She just wished that he was with her right now. She wanted him to crawl into this hospital bed with her. Aly wanted him to hold her in his strong arms and tell her that everything would be okay, that he was there to protect her. She might have argued with him about his over protective tendencies but right now it was what Aly wanted more than anything. It took her a moment even answer Steve. "Chicken sandwich, fries and applesauce. I want chocolate chip pancakes though and scrambled eggs and bacon. They're not going to have the good stuff here when it's time to order breakfast," she said with a little shake of her head. "Or I want a margharita pizza. I'm not sure which I want more."

Steve couldn't help but laugh loudly at her right now, happy to hear that she had eaten something. "I'll make you chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs and bacon when I bring you home. How does that sound?"

Aly let out a soft 'mmm', a grin stuck to her face. He was good at taking care of her and she liked that he wanted to give her everything that she wanted. "Scrambled eggs with cheese. Colby jack," she said with a quick nod. It wasn't just the thought of Steve cooking for her that was making her smile right now though. It was knowing that he wanted to do something like that for her. It was hearing his voice on the other end of the line. It was the thought of getting to see him again soon. "And did you eat, soldier?"

"I did. Cheeseburgers and fries. Then I went to the gym for awhile," Steve softly said. There was a touch of sadness in his voice. "You know … Aly … I … I can't take this, being away from you like this. I miss you too much."

Aly chuckled softly, biting her lip. She knew how badly she missed him. She figured it worked the same way for Steve. Her hand was on her stomach again, giving the soft curve a little rub. "It's 3AM, right? So visiting hours start at 7AM. I'll see you then. Maybe you can sneak me in some food," she said with a giggle. She knew that people did it all of the time. She'd order breakfast, of course, but how they expected a pregnant woman to be satisfied by the portions that they served was beyond her. "I miss you too, Steve. I … I think I can sleep now. I just needed to hear your voice. I needed to know that everything was okay."

"Aly?"

She let out a sigh, her eyes still closed as she listened to Steve. His voice was soothing and she really didn't want to ruin the moment right now by talking about anything like her nightmare. Still Aly knew that he wanted to hear about it, wanted to help her in any way that he could. "Yes, Steve?"

"Tell me about your nightmare. You didn't call just to hear my voice. You called for reassurance that things were okay. I want to know what your nightmare was about," he said, his voice firm.

Aly swallowed hard. The tone of his voice let her know that she couldn't keep hiding things from Steve. She needed to tell him everything. Steve deserved to know about the woman that had shown up at the school, the woman that she'd seen before the accident. The woman who was now so in her head that Aly had a nightmare about her that was so realistic it had made her scream.

"There was a woman, with red hair. She was in my room," she said, her voice soft. She heard how it cracked as she spoke and she quickly brushed away a tear as it rolled down her cheek. Even if Steve couldn't see her, Aly didn't want him to see her as weak. She didn't want him to hear the fear and worry in her voice right now. "She tried to smother me with a pillow. I woke up when I screamed. I … Steve, I've seen the woman before." When Steve didn't say anything right away, Aly slowly opened her eyes. She bit her lip, feeling it start to quiver. She could hear his breath on the phone. It was harsh, ragged. He was angry and Aly was afraid that he was angry with her. "Steve? Sweetheart? Talk to me, please. You're …"

"She was tall, striking green eyes, very red hair?" he asked although it seemed to come out as more of a statement than a question. "She had an accent. Didn't she? German?"

Aly nodded, forgetting for a moment that she was on the phone with Steve. She didn't know how he knew all of that but the thought that Steve had seen the woman as well seemed to frighten her even more. It made this feel like one of those things that Steve was always going on about, that someone was coming after her to get to him. "Yes," she whispered. "Th-that's her."

"She came to see me at the gym. Aly, I'm coming up to the hospital right now. I don't care if they don't want me there. I'll get someone from S.H.I.E.L.D. to call ahead and make sure that there's some kind of security detail on your room," Steve said through gritted teeth. "I'm not going to let her get at you. Or the baby. You have my word."

Aly let out a sigh, nodding even as she spoke to Steve. She hadn't thought it was possible but clearly this woman, whoever she was, wanted to hurt her to hurt Steve. For once, she had the good sense to be afraid. "Yes. Okay," she said, her voice hoarse. She knew that she was going to start to cry again soon if she wasn't careful. "Steve? P-please hurry here. I just … I want you here."

Steve sighed on the other end of the line. "I'll be there soon. I promise you, Alyssa. You'll be safe," he said. His voice still had an edge to it but he sounded calmer. He sounded focused. "I love you and no one is going to hurt you or our unborn child."

Aly let out a sigh, her eyes closing for a moment. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and she roughly wiped it away with her free hand. "I know, Steve. I love you too. Bye," she said, waiting to hear him say goodbye before she hung up the phone with a trembling hand. She thought that she was going to be able to go back to sleep but now she felt too wound up to be able to rest. She flipped on the TV, just wanting some kind of noise right now. It was far too quiet for her liking.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Thank you guys for sticking with me and thank you to the newcomers to the story. I appreciate you all! Any and all feedback is always read and I do let suggestions rattle around in my brain as previous reviewers can attest. I hope you like the update. I'll be working on the next chapter in the next few days. Of course that could be slowed by the fact that I'll be seeing Iron Man 3. Enjoy the update and hopefully I'll have another for you before the month of May is done!

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Steve gave a quick nod to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that was sitting outside of Aly's door when he arrived at the hospital. It wasn't someone that he recognized off hand but he knew the look at this point. There was no mistaking that this man worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. even if he was in street clothes. The moment that Steve had called Director Fury, it was clear that he wasn't going to let this go without there being at least one guard on Aly's room so Fury set something up to make Steve happy, something that Steve was grateful for.

He watched as the man who'd been sitting vigilantly at Aly's door got up and left now that Steve was there. He figured that meant that Fury was only going to keep someone around when Steve couldn't be there himself. Not that he minded. He knew that he wanted to be the one that was there more than anything. It wasn't that he didn't trust that someone else would be able to protect Aly. He was sure that other people would be perfectly capable of doing the job. It was that Steve felt like it was his job to protect her and he was going to do his damnedest to make sure that was the way that it went.

Steve knocked on the door before walking in since he wanted to be sure that Aly wasn't changing or something. While it wasn't as if he hadn't seen her naked before, he still felt the need to give her some privacy for such things. He poked his head in when he didn't get an answer right away, smiling softly when he saw Aly fast asleep while sitting upright. He saw that the TV was on and he figured that she fell asleep at some point after the phone call while watching something on TV. Steve chuckled at that and pulled a chair closer to the bed, sitting down in it and taking one of her hands in his. He let his thumb lightly brush Aly's smooth and warm skin, humming a song that he used to listen to a long time ago as he watched her sleep. She looked so peaceful so Steve didn't want to wake her up yet.

Steve sat up a bit when he saw Aly's eyes flutter open a few minutes after he'd arrived. She pulled at his arm as she tried to raise her hand to wipe the sleep from her eyes. He saw her jump when she couldn't move her hand and he quickly let go of her hand, not wanting to startle her although he clearly had. He knew that she'd had a nightmare and Steve didn't want to be the cause of her freaking out too much. He was going to let her completely wake up without any interference from him. Then he figured he could let her know that he was there, if she didn't figure it out for herself. Steve waited while she wiped her eyes, seeing her blink a few times as her eyes adjusted to the lighting in the room. She looked over at him and Steve's face broke out in a grin. He'd missed her so much last night so he couldn't hide how happy he was right now.

Aly smiled, the look on her face still sleepy. She was clearly happy to see him, even if she hadn't fully woken up yet. "Steve, you're here," she said, her voice a little rough from having just woken. She scooted over on the bed and gave him a pout. When he didn't move right away, she patted the side of the bed that was now empty and even rolled onto her side to make room for him. All that Aly wanted right now was to feel herself safe in Steve's arms. "Please."

Steve eyed the bed suspiciously, not sure that it was going to be big enough for the two of them. Even with Aly trying to make room for him, he wasn't sure that he would fit. If she had been any further along in her pregnancy, he really wouldn't have fit into that bed with her and her belly. Still Steve climbed into the bed, lying on his side next to her. He couldn't seem to deny her what she wanted so badly right now, mostly because Steve wanted that too. He wrapped an arm around her and nuzzled his nose in her hair, sighing softly. That was what he had missed when he tried to get some sleep today. Steve stayed like that for a long moment, just enjoying the nearness of her without saying a word. He heard her sigh and felt how Aly's body seemed to relax in his arms. His fingers lightly stroked her hair, playing with it a bit as he watched her.

When Aly looked up at him, Steve saw tears in her eyes and he felt tears stinging his eyes at the sight. It broke his heart to see her like this. Upset. Frightened. She looked so vulnerable right now. He wiped his thumb against her cheek to brush away the tears and shook his head at the sight, kissing the top of her head softly. "I'm here now. It's okay. You're safe," he softly said, his hand rubbing her side softly.

"This is what you were trying to warn me about. Isn't it?" Aly asked in a whisper. She bit her lip softly to stop it from trembling as she looked up at Steve. She didn't want him to see her like this but she couldn't help how scared she was. She blinked away the tears before more could fall although a couple slid down her cheeks anyway. Aly took a deep, shaky breath and let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't think it would ever come to this. Someone coming after me to get to you. I …"

Steve gave her a soft smile. He didn't want her scared right now. He didn't want her to think that she wasn't safe. He was there and he was going to keep her and their unborn child safe from whoever it was that seemed to be after them, after him. "Shh … It's okay, Alyssa. No one will hurt you. If not me, then someone else will be around to keep you safe until this is over. Don't forget that, okay?" Steve said as he brushed his fingers through her hair. His hand slowly moved down her arm and then to her stomach. Slowly he let his hand rub the small curve she had. It seemed a bit bigger than the last time he'd seen her. The feeling of that growing bump actually made him grin. "The baby's growing."

Aly laughed as she felt his hand on her stomach. She realized when he rubbed at her stomach that her stomach did have a bit more of a curve to it than it did the day before. She hadn't noticed that before, maybe because of all of the excitement and fear. She'd been so worried about everything else that she didn't realize that her stomach was a little bigger now, the curve was a little more pronounced. "Every day," she said with a smile on her face. "I felt the baby move yesterday. The baby moves a lot. Feels like butterflies in my stomach." Aly couldn't help but giggle when she described the feeling, a smile on her face. The first real kick was going to be incredible to feel but feeling the little movements still amazed her. She had almost forgotten to tell Steve about that. With everything that was going on, she was surprised she even remembered.

"Can I feel it?" Steve asked, perking up at the fact that Aly said that she could feel the baby move now. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to feel it or not. He let his hand continue to rub her stomach as he heard her laugh and saw Aly shake her head in response. He frowned a little, not able to hide his disappointment at that. Steve wanted to feel the baby move, feel it kick. "Well I'm sure this little peanut will be kicking before long and then I'll be able to feel it."

Aly nodded with a laugh, stealing a quick kiss. "I was talking with one of the nurses. She has two kids of her own. Since I'm around 4 months along now, she said that she wasn't surprised I could feel the baby moving a little. She said that it'll be a little while but soon even you'll be able to feel the baby moving around and kicking," she said with a nod. She couldn't wait to see Steve's face the first time the baby kicked while he was touching her stomach.

As they talked about the baby and how quickly it was growing, the doctor walked into the room. Steve jumped a bit and immediately climbed out of the bed. He had a look on his face like a little boy who'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, like he shouldn't have been lying in bed with her. The doctor didn't say a word about it though. That look on Steve's face made Aly laugh and she shook her head as she looked over at him before her attention moved to the doctor.

"How are you feeling today, Miss Harper?" the doctor asked as he picked up her chart. He looked back toward an orderly who was wheeling in an ultrasound machine, telling them where to leave it before he glanced at Aly's chart in his hand. "Looks like we can let you go home today. Just want to check over a few things before we release you. How's that head of yours feeling?"

Aly smiled more at seeing the ultrasound machine than anything else although the thought of going home had its appeal as well. She nodded enthusiastically. "I'm doing just fine. No more dizziness. No more headaches," she said with a little shrug. To be honest, other than her nightmare last night, Aly knew that she felt like she was doing much better. "I feel pretty good."

"Have you eaten yet today?"

She watched as the doctor seemed to fiddle with the ultrasound machine as he spoke, her chart back at the foot of her bed. It took her a moment to actually answer the doctor's question. Aly couldn't wait to see the baby on the ultrasound machine again although she tried not to show just how eager she was for to see it. "Not yet but I ordered pancakes and eggs. Just waiting for the food to get here," she said with a little shrug.

"We'll just give you a little once over, make sure everything's in order and once you eat, I'll probably release you." The doctor looked over his shoulder at Aly and gave her a soft smile, wanting her to know that everything was alright.

Aly's smile brightened and she nodded again. She looked over at Steve and saw him looking at the ultrasound machine before he smiled at Aly. It wouldn't be the first time they would see the baby but now that she was even more excited about it. She knew that she had another month before they'd know if they were having a boy or a girl but it was still amazing to get to see the baby. She wanted to see how big the baby was getting. When she realized something, she leaned in toward Steve and whispered to him.

"You know, my clothes that I came here in might not fit quite right. You should run home and get me some of my maternity clothes," she said with a little smile.

Steve's face lit up at the thought. He was excited now that her stomach was a little bigger and now that he knew that she and the baby were doing well. He couldn't wait to see Aly in some of those maternity clothes that they'd purchased. He watched as the doctor had Aly lift her hospital gown. He chuckled when she shivered a bit as the gel was placed on her stomach. Then Steve's eyes were on the screen as the doctor moved the wand around on her stomach. A quick glance at Aly proved to him that she was entranced by what she was seeing on the screen as he was. He squeezed her hand, smiling when she looked at him. Seeing that smile on her face was all that he needed right now.

"Looks like you've got a healthy little one here. Everything seems to be alright so I don't see why I can't let you go after you've had some breakfast. Have the nurse call me as soon as you finish eating and I'll come back for one last check at your vitals," he said with a nod as he cleaned the gel off of her stomach and had Aly pull down her hospital gown again. He removed the fetal heart monitor as well and called in an orderly to help clear out the unnecessary equipment. After quickly checking Aly's temperature and blood pressure, the doctor left with the promise of coming back when it was time to release her from the hospital.

"I'll call someone to get you something from home," Steve said with a quick nod as the doctor left the room. "I don't want to leave you alone here right now. I would've grabbed a dress or some jeans and a shirt for you if I would've known you'd gotten bigger." He chuckled as he rubbed her stomach again, really feeling the bump this time. It really had gotten bigger and he could see why Aly wanted her maternity clothes.

"Steven, it's fine. You'll be gone for all of 15 minutes or so, right? They'll bring me my breakfast and you can run home then and bring me back some maternity clothes. Doesn't matter what you grab as long as it matches," she said with a laugh, shaking her head. "I think I'll be fine for 15 or 20 minutes."

"Half hour, tops," he said with a nod. Steve knew that he shouldn't worry so much but he couldn't help it. He didn't want to leave Aly alone right now. Still if she was eating, he supposed that he could leave for a bit. By the time he got back, she'd probably be done and they'd just have to wait for the doctor to come see her one last time. He took a deep breath and nodded again. "Alright. I'll go get you those things once your breakfast arrives. Do you still want me to make you breakfast when we get home?"

"It's that or we're stopping somewhere for breakfast. They don't give me nearly enough food," Aly said with a chuckle.

Steve had a little grin on his face, shaking his head at her. He wasn't surprised to hear Aly say that she wanted to stop somewhere to grab some food. He knew that her appetite was much bigger lately thanks to her being pregnant. Steve watched as someone walked in with a tray, smiling at Aly. He watched as she lifted the lid and looked to see just how much food they had given her. He had to admit that there wasn't much there for her to eat. He stood up and kissed her softly before turning to leave the room.

"Steve?"

Steve turned around, a slight frown on his face. That tone in Aly's voice, worried and slightly scared, made him want to stay there with her and send someone else to get the clothes from their apartment instead. When he saw her frown at him, Steve put a smile on his face to put her at ease. "What is it, dear?" he asked, his smile growing a bit more genuine as he looked at her.

Aly smiled at Steve, almost shyly. "I love you. Hurry back. Please," she said with a quick nod.

Steve nodded and slipped out of the hospital room. He walked quickly to the nearest elevator. He wanted to get to the apartment and back before Aly finished eating although seeing how little she'd gotten, Steve was sure that Aly would be impatiently waiting for him to get back so he was doing his best to get home and get back before she really noticed that he was gone in the first place.


End file.
